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How Floating Cities Will Work

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Millions of people take cruises each year; but when their cruise ends, they usually return to their homes on land. Wouldn't it be great if there was a cruise that never ended? That's the basic idea behind a floating city , and an ocean vessel called Freedom Ship is trying the concept out.

Unlike a cruise ship, Freedom Ship plans to have permanent residents. The ship would circle the globe every two years and offer everything available in your hometown, including urban areas, a hospital, college, and one of the world's largest shopping malls.

While progress on the Freedom Ship has been anchored in recent years, its aim is to become a home for the rich and famous. In this article, we'll take a look at the plans for this floating city and see how it compares to today's largest cruise ships!

The World's Biggest Ship

The construction of floating cities, life at freedom ship, fun and secure, eco-friendly living on the seas, risks of living on a floating city.

Artist rendering of a floating city called Freedom Ship.

No cruise ship that has ever been built would compare to the enormity of Freedom Ship. Imagine a mile-long stretch of 25-story-tall buildings in New York City; now imagine that floating on the water. If you can picture such floating structures, then you get the general idea of Freedom Ship's size.

At a proposed size of 4,320 feet (1,317 meters) long, 725 feet (221 m) wide, and 340 feet (103 m) tall, the ship is taller than the length of a football field and wider than two football fields put together. And not only can a ship that size float on water, but all that floating architecture may be able to navigate the world's oceans as well.

Freedom Ship will dwarf any ocean-going vessel operating today -- it will be nearly four times longer than any current cruise ship. For example, the largest cruise ship as of 2023 (the " Icon of the Seas ") is approximately 1,198 feet in length. The Freedom Ship, meanwhile, would measure an astounding 4,320 feet in length. In addition, it would weigh 2.7 million tons, which outclasses the Icon of the Seas' 250,800 tons by a massive margin.

Building the Structure

Freedom Ship will be built on top of 520 airtight steel cells that will be bolted together to form a sturdy base. Each cell will be 80 feet (24 meters) tall, between 50 and 100 feet (15 and 30 m) wide and between 50 and 120 feet (15 and 37 m) long. These cells will be assembled to form larger interconnected platforms that are about 300 x 400 feet (91 x 122 m).

These larger units will then be taken out to sea, where they will be put together to form the ship's nearly mile-long base. The rest of the ship will be constructed on top of this base. Norman Nixon, who developed the idea of a floating city, has said that it will take about three years to finish the ship once construction begins.

Engine Power

It will take a tremendous amount of engine power to push the gigantic ship through the water. The vessel will be equipped with 100 diesel engines that can generate 3,700 horsepower each. Developers project the cost of each engine to be at least $1 million.

That may give you an idea of how expensive the project is. Although the total cost of Freedom Ship has not been released, the last estimate stood at $10 billion. The ship's high construction cost will be passed on to residents, but that's only if the project receives the financial backing it requires to get started.

Floating cities will be approximately four times the size of the biggest cruise ships.

Freedom Ship proposes to make 17,000 residential units that will be home to more than 60,000 people, including residents and all of the personnel that will be required to maintain the ship. The floating city will continuously circle the world and will travel to most of Earth's coastal cities, offering residents the ability to see the entire globe without leaving their home.

All of the ship's employees will be given food, housing, uniforms, medical and dental care, plus a continuing education program. The ship will contain all of the features that any modern city might have, including:

A $200 million hospital
A 3,800-foot (1,158-m) landing strip, which will serve private planes and some small commercial aircraft that carry no more than 40 passengers
Hangars for private aircraft
A marina for residents' yachts
A large shopping mall
A school system offering K-12 and college education
A golf driving range
Bicycle paths
200 open acres for recreation

Perhaps unsurprisingly, affordable housing is not a major focus for Freedom Ship. Suites were set to start at $121,000 for a 300-square-foot room and go up to $11 million for a 5,100 square foot suite on the ship's exclusive 21st floor, where prices start at $3 million! Keep in mind, these prices have not been adjusted to reflect post-pandemic inflation.

For those who could afford to live on Freedom Ship, the most attractive feature may be that it has no local taxes, including income tax, real estate tax, sales tax, business tax and import duties. However, residents would have to abide by federal tax laws in their home country.

For entertainment, residents can visit one of the many restaurants, casinos, nightclubs and theaters. Residents will also enjoy tennis, basketball, bowling, putting greens, swimming pools, gyms, a skating rink, and fishing from the ship's marina. Each home will have 100 channels of worldwide satellite TV channels and local programming from nearby countries. Internet access will be available in each unit.

Just like your own hometown police department, Freedom Ship would have a security force onboard to patrol the ship at all times. In addition, the ship's entire crew would receive security training. An electronic security system would be installed to offer further protection to residents.

In addition to all of these benefits, Freedom Ship would also be environmentally friendly , according to its developers. There would be no sewage treatment plant and no sewage to spill. The ship would use incinerator toilets, which cost about $3,000 apiece, to burn all sewage. The ashes would be put in the flower beds. Waste oil would be burned in an exhaust steam plant to generate electricity, instead of being dumped in the ocean.

Meanwhile, all used glass, paper, and metal will be recycled and sold. Freedom Ship International estimates that each resident will produce 80 percent less waste on the ship than at his or her current home on land.

The concept of a floating city comes with some unprecedented challenges. Perhaps the most obvious risk is related to climate change, as rising sea levels could lead to unpredictable issues either navigating the oceans or attempting to dock. Beyond the sea level rise, floating cities would have to plan for climate refugees who are seeking shelter. As extreme weather intensifies (as a result of climate change), floating homes could be particularly vulnerable.

There are also environmental concerns about floating cities. For example, how might vital marine ecosystems, from large marine mammals to brain coral banks, be impacted by a mammoth floating city living in its midst? From rising seas to unseen ecological effects, the risks involved with these floating structures are difficult to predict.

Lots More Information

This $8 Billion Turtle-Shaped Yacht Is Not a Joke

By Katherine McLaughlin

Among many things that weren’t on our Bingo cards for 2022, a giant turtle-shaped yacht—which is also being described as a floating city —is certainly at the top of the list. And yet, here we are. As CNN reported, an Italian design firm, Lazzarini Design Studio , has drafted plans for a massive boat shaped like an oversized tortoise with outstretched flippers. The vessel is so big that it’s not even being called a superyacht , but rather designers have described it as a terayacht. As such, it was given an appropriately big name, Pangeos , a nod to Pangea, the ancient supercontinent that once incorporated almost all of Earth’s landmasses. According to Lazzarini, the ship will be big enough to hold various hotels, apartments, condos, shopping centers, parks, and other amenities for up to 60,000 guests. The yacht will even have ship and aircraft ports so guests can visit when Pangeos isn’t docked near land. Which is helpful since, as of now, the company doesn’t foresee any strict itinerary, but rather expects the turtle to simply coast around the world.

Many of the amenities and homes are designed around a central town square.

Extending 1,800 feet in length and measuring 2,000 feet at its widest point, the boat is poised to be the largest floating structure ever built. That is, of course, if it does get built, which is a whole other obstacle in and of itself. As the Pangeos website explains, “the terayacht needs a terashipyard,” which doesn’t currently exist. The project requires a yard that is about 200 miles wide and 180 miles long, which also means dredging about 0.4 square miles of the sea with a circular dam. Once the yacht is constructed, the dam can open, flooding the area and essentially launching the vessel. Lazzarini has currently suggested the coast of Saudi Arabia as the ideal location for construction.

Since the goal is usually to minimize drag, boats don’t usually stray from the standard V shape—and are even less frequently formed like marine animals—but Pangeos ’s flippers are more than just a peculiarity. According to the company, the extremities will capture kinetic energy from the waves, which will allow the boat to cruise perpetually without emissions. The rooftop area would also be equipped with solar panels for additional power, should it be necessary; electric engines are also included in the design.

Rendering of a terraced villa around a central square

Within the terraced villa, guests can find houses, buildings, and rooftop terraces, with an upper zone that offers landing of various flying vehicles.

According to the firm, the total cost to build the massive vessel will be nothing short of $8 billion. Construction will also take, at minimum, eight years, and Lazzarini doesn’t expect that this could even begin until 2025. With a hefty price tag and decent wait time, the company has conjured a plan to alleviate both. Designed as an NFT crowdfunding project, the firm is selling “Unreal Estate,” allowing interested buyers to purchase virtual boarding tickets, hotel rooms, and even houses for a metaverse version of the yacht, which the company says will be ready for (virtual) boarding by 2023.

The Freedom Ship Floating City Concept

Freedom Ship, or floating city, is a highly innovative maritime housing project conceptualised by an American engineering pioneer, Norman Nixon. The project is quite similar to the idea of floating cities serving as alternate residential locales in the distant future. Once constructed, it would become the largest vessel in the world.

According to the Freedom Ship International team, it will abide by international maritime laws and the laws of the country whose flag it would fly.

It goes beyond any conventional ship and even the floating residential complexes. Instead, it would be like a series of barges. This cruise ship concept aims to provide permanent residential, recreational and commercial avenues aboard a ship to help patrons be free of the innumerable taxation burdens. It will have a luxurious modern city complex with a large residential space. An airport would be built at the ship’s top deck for the convenience of the residents.

Table of Contents

Freedom Ship Concept: Details

For a vessel that promises to offer so many feasibilities, it’s estimated that the construction cost of the mile-long city could total over US$ 10 billion. Although actual construction hasn’t yet been started on the vessel, if the Freedom Ship concept duly takes off, Norman Nixon’s maritime marvel would be the biggest commercial vessel in the world with the following salient features:

The first ship of its kind with a mobile ocean colony facilitating a free international lifestyle would measure over 4,000 feet lengthwise and have a width of over 700 ft. It will be four times longer than Queen Mary.
Maximum occupancy of over 60,000 residents, including 15,000 crew members.
Educational institutions with quality educational programs
Exemption from taxation norms prevalent in the major countries of the world
A Huge Shopping mall, wholesale shops, warehouses, assembly enterprises, light manufacturing and other complexes with non-taxable shopping luxuries.
Sports venues and athletic facilities like golf, basketball and tennis courts, state-of-the-art gymnasiums, tracks for cycling and bowling alleys
Entertainment facilities include restaurants, pubs, discotheques, movie theaters, and recreational facilities.

Freedom Ship: Constructional Characteristics

Because of the enormous size of the Freedom Ship, the construction of the vessel has been pinpointed to be of pivotal importance. To ensure that the vessel doesn’t turn turtle because of uneven balance in its base structuring, the foundation of the vessel will be built by connecting steel cubicles as if to form a longer flat-bottomed hoy.

The Freedom Ship concept also offers highly suitable eco-friendly additions to its engineering concepts. This includes effective waste management systems, sewerage disposal systems and highly effective methodologies for reprocessing and recycling. The engineering brilliance of the ship is also seen in the blueprint of its engine systems. As per the innovator’s vision, around 100 diesel engine systems will be incorporated to manoeuvre the vessel. The cost of equipping these engine systems, each with a capacity to generate almost 4,000 HPs, is expected to touch around US$ one million.

Potential owners must register to book their residential units within the Freedom Ship. Smaller units of around 300 square feet are expected to cost slightly over US$ 1 00,000 while crossing several million dollars for bigger residential units.

Present-day Status

Construction of the Freedom Ship has been stalled because of several doubts about the vessel’s workability. Although various maritime experts are confident about the vessel’s success, the immense cost has also acted as a barrier to the vessel’s construction. If these barriers are eliminated appropriately, then the Freedom Ship concept will be genuinely a wonder worth spending money on.

Watch the Video below:

Frequently Asked Questions

1. what is the freedom ship project.

It is a highly innovative maritime housing project conceptualised by American engineer Norman Nixon. It is similar to the idea of floating modern cities for residential purposes, housing about 60,000 residents and 15,000 crews.

2. Why has the ship not been built yet?

Construction of the project was stopped because of doubts arising about the workability of the project. Although many experts and stakeholders are confident about its success, its enormous construction cost has dissuaded some from supporting it.

3. What will be the dimensions of the freedom ship once constructed?

It would be 4500 ft long and have a 750 m width, enough for housing over 60,000 people. It will also have hotels and accommodation for tourists and visitors.

4. What will be the amenities onboard the floating city?

The ship will have everything for all age groups. Apart from basic amenities, there will be ample recreation, entertainment, sports facilities, premium hospitals, theme parks, shopping centres, gardens, an airport etc.

5. How much would it cost to build the Freedom ship?

It would be a very expensive affair, as it is not just any ship but a full-fledged floating city. It would be designed to offer luxury and comfort to its residents. Hence, in 2013 the company announced that the entire project would cost around 10 Billion US Dollars.

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An ardent sailor and a techie, Anish Wankhede has voyaged on a number of ships as a marine engineer officer. He loves multitasking, networking, and troubleshooting. He is the one behind the unique creativity and aesthetics at Marine Insight.

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Innovation for Good

Solutions to today's biggest challenges

Innovation | August 12, 2021

Are Floating Cities a Real Possibility?

A scale model of Oceanix City, a concept capable of supporting more than 10,000 residents, will be featured in the Smithsonian’s upcoming ‘Futures’ exhibit

Elissaveta M. Brandon

Contributing Writer

With the world’s population nearing 7.9 billion, and estimates projecting that it will reach 9.7 by 2050, architects and urban planners naturally speculate about cities of the future.

In the 1960s, the visionary architect Yona Friedman imagined Spatial City ( Ville Spatiale ), a city raised on stilts that could straddle existing cities. Around the same time, the influential British architecture collective Archigram drew up Plug-In City , a computer-controlled, adaptable megastructure of a city with removable units. And just this year, the speculative architect and film director Liam Young proposed Planet City , in which the Earth's entire population could live in one hyper-dense city the size of Tokyo, devoting the rest of the planet to rewilding.

But what if the most promising model for a future city wasn't on land?

Floating cities—with modern amenities and commercially-viable real-estate—have long been a dream of utopias, from Buckminster Fuller’s unrealized proposal for a floating city in Tokyo Bay in the 1960s, to the entrepreneur Lazarus Long’s quest for a new island nation on an unclaimed Caribbean shoal in 1999. But with the number of people displaced as a result of the climate crisis reaching 40.5 million in 2020 , and sea-level rise continuing to threaten the future of coastal cities, offshore living is beginning to sound less like a whimsical proposal and more like a credible alternative. At least that is what the founders of Oceanix , a company invested in designing and building floating cities, believe.

In the Face of Rising Seas, Are Floating Cities a Real Possibility?

In 2019, the UN-Habitat —a United Nations program that advocates for sustainable urban development—convened a roundtable of architects, designers, academics and entrepreneurs who discussed the viability of floating cities as a solution to climate change and affordable housing. Hosted together with Oceanix, the MIT Center for Ocean Engineering and the U.S.-based Explorers Club, the day-long conference introduced the idea of Oceanix City.

This hurricane-resistant, zero-waste city would be comprised of 4.5-acre hexagonal floating islands that each house 300 people. Six of these islands would form a ring-shaped village articulated around a sheltered harbor. And six of these villages would form a small city of 10,800 people. Hypothetically, the numbers could add up indefinitely.

Designed by Danish starchitect Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), in collaboration with Oceanix, the city may seem like something out of a science-fiction novel, but Oceanix is now gearing up to build a prototype of a 5-acre city for 300 residents (that’s the equivalent of one Manhattan block, but with over half the density) in a yet-to-be determined location.

“The cities we’re talking to are incredibly keen to leverage this technology to prepare for their own future,” says Oceanix CEO Marc Collins.

Oceanix at the Smithsonian

A scale model of Oceanix City will be featured in the upcoming exhibition, “Futures,” at Smithsonian’s Arts & Industries Building (AIB) in Washington, D.C. Opening in November, the show seeks to explore what lies ahead for humanity through the lens of art and technology. Balancing futuristic concepts like flying cars with problem-solving technological innovations like biodegradable burial urns, the exhibit will present a multifaceted look into what's next.

"What we really wanted to demonstrate is there isn't a singular pathway to a specific kind of future," explains Ashley Molese, the exhibition’s curator. "And there are multiple pathways and multiple futures that emerge out of these pathways."

The exhibit is organized into four themes that will unfold across AIB’s four monumental halls. In Futures Past , visitors can explore past visions of the future, through artifacts like an experimental Alexander Graham Bell telephone, early androids and the Bakelizer —a machine that was used to create an early form of brittle plastic called Bakelite. “You can’t understand the future until you understand the past,” says Molese. Futures that Unite showcases visions for how we can relate to one another and create a peaceful, inclusive world, from a Covid-friendly support robot that tackles loneliness to a video game that can be played using the eyes. Futures that Work focuses on problem solving, with an algae bioreactor that cleans as much air as a 400-acre forest and a sustainable brick made from mushrooms on display. And in Futures that Inspire , museumgoers will see bold, seemingly impossible visions that could one day prove possible.

Limited Edition: Futures Merch Available Now!

Galactic gifts from the time-traveling museum experience

This last section is where the model of Oceanix will live. Measuring 5.5 by 5.5 feet, it will present a bird’s eye view of a city that can support more than 10,000 residents.

"You see a model and you can start to imagine it in your own backyard," says Molese.

And perhaps you should start to imagine it, because Oceanix is now fully funded by a private (and at this point, secret) venture capital firm. And with French company Bouygues Construction already on the team, a prototype of a 300-person city, still seeking an exact location, is ready to be built in just three years.

How It All Started

Oceanix was dreamed up by Polynesian entrepreneur Marc Collins Chen, who first saw floating cities as a solution to climate adaptation while he was minister of tourism in French Polynesia. In this role from 2007 to 2008, Collins Chen was tasked with assessing the long-term effects of sea level rise on the islands. Six years later, a 2013 study published in the journal Nature Conservation confirmed what Polynesians already suspected: about a third of French Polynesia’s 118 islands were projected to be submerged by rising seas over the next 60 years.

If seawalls are too costly, thought Collins Chen, do you start thinking about managed retreat?

The idea of moving people, buildings and other assets from areas deemed vulnerable to sea-level rise has garnered mixed reviews. While some recognize its inevitability, others still see it as a last resort. With Oceanix, Collins Chen and his cofounder Itai Madamombe are hoping to flip perceptions: "We would advance instead of retreat," he says. Instead of running away to high grounds, people and cities themselves would push beyond the edge of the water.

In 2014, Kiribati, a neighboring cluster of islands in the South Pacific, purchased nearly eight square miles on a Fiji island, marking the world’s first international land purchase intended for climate refugees. And in 2019, Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo announced plans to move its capital from the ever-sinking city of Jakarta to Borneo, citing rising sea levels and the chronic flooding of Jakarta as reasons.

According to a paper authored by University of Delaware's disaster researcher A.R. Siders and published in Science this June, managed retreat could involve advancing onto floating infrastructure. A self-prescribed "advocate for audacious climate adaptation,” Siders argues that long-term adaptation will involve some form of managed retreat, like "building floating neighborhoods or cities," or "turning roads into canals in an effort to live with the water."

Retro Visions of Future Cities

Iterations of floating cities, both fictional and real, have captured the human imagination for centuries. In Jules Verne’s science fiction novel Propeller Island , published in 1895, a French string quartet sails on a floating city designed to travel the waters of the Pacific Ocean. And in the much-derided, 1995 action film Waterworld , Kevin Costner, who has developed gills, fights for survival in a post-apocalyptic world where most of the globe is underwater after the melting of the polar ice caps.

In the early 1960s—in the real world—a wealthy Japanese developer commissioned Buckminster Fuller, the architect who popularized the geodesic dome , to build Triton City on the water in Tokyo Bay. Designed as a series of floating city blocks with permanent connections to mainland Tokyo, the city was to hold apartments, schools, parks and stores. Triton City was never built—the developer died and the concept died with him—but many other floating cities, of varying scales, have seen the light of day. More than 13,000 people live on stilted houses connected by a 23-mile boardwalk in Brunei’s Kampong Ayer , a floating settlement that dates back more than 600 years. In Lagos, Nigeria, the community of Makoko sits on precarious stilts hovering over a fetid lagoon, with little access to electricity and clean sanitation. And on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca, the indigenous Uros people have lived on floating islands (62 of them!) for over 4,000 years. For some like the Makoko community, migration to water was a desperate measure driven by the sheer lack of adequate infrastructure and affordable housing on land. For others, it was triggered by political unrest; as the Inca Empire expanded, it pushed the Uros people to evacuate onto the lake.

Living with the water, be it on floating structures or in extremely close proximity, can also be simply a natural consequence of topography. In the low-lying country of Denmark, for example, about 80 percent of the population lives in urban areas near the coast. "It's very much a part of the Danish DNA," says Kai-Uwe Bergmann, a partner at BIG, the Danish architecture studio behind Oceanix City.

In 2016, BIG stacked upcycled shipping containers on floating platforms to create buoyant student housing in the Copenhagen Harbor. Dubbed Urban Rigger , the community currently houses about 100 students, with room for a green courtyard, a roof terrace and an underwater community room. Urban Rigger was a sort of prelude to Oceanix, or as Bergmann calls it, "a proof of concept." With its monumental scale, Oceanix is a whole other beast, with a certain set of challenges.

The Challenges to Building a Floating City

"Whenever you're doing something that floats you have to start thinking about ballast, and wave action and how the energy that is built into the waves will start to work with whatever floating structure," says Bergmann.

So BIG started looking at floating pods: how to support them, how to connect them, and how to protect them from wave forces. The end-result is a modular city designed to facilitate a man-made ecosystem with a circular economy. Anchored in the UN Sustainable Development Goals , a 17-point blueprint for “better and more sustainable future for all,” it features technologies like Biorock , which can be used to make robust artificial reefs for corals to grow. The city also challenges the take-make-waste economy through partnerships with the Center for Zero Waste Design . For example, food waste would be converted to energy and compost in community gardens, single-use packaging would be eliminated, and sewage would be treated in algae ponds.

“What we hope is to truly start thinking about a different model, a future model that is structured differently,” says Bergmann. “Some people could view this as very provocative because it would start to question their systems, and maybe there would be a reluctance to try something out that might start to impact the way business is actually done.”

Reluctance to the project does exist. Oceanix has been vilified as a “ vanity project for the rich ,” and a “ moonshot response to climate change ” that would barely make a dent in cities like Jakarta, where as many as 5 million people could need to evacuate from the sinking city. The city’s first location will either confirm or dispel these concerns.

Communities experiencing the effects of sea-level rise could be prime candidates, as could places with already established floating communities that can help “push and support these ideas,” Bergmann explains. He cites Singapore is a potential contender. “Here’s a country that is finite,” he says. Through unremitting land reclamation, Singapore has grown in size by almost a quarter, but the process has its limits. And since it involves dumping sand, rock, soil and cement into the water, land reclamation has a strong impact on marine ecosystems, too. “What if you just accept that you could build on floating platforms as opposed to semi-land?” says Bergmann.

Singapore, of course, is just a guess at this stage. Collins Chen, the Oceanix CEO, says the company is in conversation with 12 different countries. Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and "both coasts" of the U.S. are being considered, but the exact location is yet to be confirmed. What is known is that Oceanix City belongs near the shore, where geological features would keep it sheltered and "where coastal cities need to grow," says Collins Chen.

As the climate crisis escalates, more than 1 billion people will live in countries with insufficient infrastructure to withstand sea-level rise by 2050, according to The Institute for Economics and Peace. At this rate, it would take over 9,000 Oceanix cities to rehome these projected climate refugees.

While floating cities alone can’t solve climate change, for Molese, the “Futures” exhibition curator, such projects have a lot to contribute to the discourse.

“What we're trying to say is: we've got real problems and we need to problem-solve for them, but we can’t do that if we’re so disenfranchised and disinterested in creating a better scenario," she says. "Most radical experiences don't have a precedent."

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Elissaveta M. Brandon | | READ MORE

Elissaveta M. Brandon is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in Curbed , Metropolis , Architectural Digest and more. She writes about architecture, cities and the life in between.

Freedom Ship: the floating city that never set sail

Author | Lucía Burbano

![](file:///C:/Users/Alberto/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.jpg)

The idea of creating a floating city beyond the reach of the laws of existing states is quite an old concept and has given rise to numerous projects, most of which were never completed or did not even get off the ground. The Freedom Ship is one of them, presented as an alternative to land-based cities. As with the latter, it would be made up of homes, streets and urban structures that would accommodate all types of stores and services just like those found in any other city.

It is not a cruise ship like the Freedom of the Seas and others, according to the project’s website , but rather a unique proposal to live, work, go on holiday or plan your retirement in a city constantly moving around the world .

What is the Freedom Ship megaship?

Designed by the engineer Norman Nixon at the end of the ’90s, the Freedom Ship is a 25-story high megaship that is 1,371.6 meters long, 228 meters wide and 106.68 meters high. It was designed to bring together an "international, cosmopolitan and self-sustaining" community, and would circumnavigate the globe every three years docking at the main ports around the world.

The ship would be capable of accommodating up to 100,000 passengers while moored; 40,000 residents, 20,000 crew members, 30,000 daily visitors and 10,000 tourists staying in the hotels built on board.

The construction of the ship has experienced countless delays, due mainly to cost-related issues, with estimated costs of €10 billion and the obvious difficulties involved in building a ‘marine monster’ of its kind.

Pros and cons

As with any exceptional project and with a somewhat utopian vision, the Freedom Ship, on the one hand, proposes a series of very interesting concepts and, on the other, it fails to resolve another series of issues, casting serious doubt on the feasibility and even the legality of the project.

Class equality

Those responsible for the project emphasize concepts like "community" to transmit the idea that class differences will not exist in areas such as health or education, which will be the same for all students from preschool to university level.

In constant movement

Those who hate routine will feel at home with the international nature of the Freedom Ship. The megaship promises to circle the world every two or three years, docking 70% of the time on the outskirts of ports in countries such as Morocco, Nigeria, Australia, Spain, Venezuela or Brazil.

Shared maintenance

The megaship’s essential services and infrastructures would be shared by all passengers, who will pay a fixed fee to maintain essential personnel such as security personnel or firefighters.

Retirement homes, hospitals, offices, restaurants, track and field facilities, casinos… The Freedom Ship has everything one would expect from a city without having to move.

A lawless ship?

The project developers claim that the Freedom Ship will be governed by international maritime laws and the laws of the nation whose flag it is flying. However, it is not clear which jurisprudence, security body, etc. would be responsible for ensuring compliance with such laws.

A tax haven?

Another issue related to the above: where would those working, living, visiting or acquiring products on the Freedom Ship pay taxes?

Are visas required?

Another matter yet to be clarified is whether or not visas are required and if they need to be renewed during the months aboard the Freedom Ship.

How much would it cost to build the Freedom Ship?

Various sources believe the construction of the Freedom Ship would cost around $10 billion . Moreover, it has never been appealing enough among potential investors to reach the estimated figure, although it is not known how much they have managed to secure until now.

In 30 years, at least three designs for the Freedom Ship have been submitted and the start of its construction has been announced on numerous occasions (one of the last times in 2013). However, there is very little news regarding any form of progress.

Will it ever be built?

This leads us to the next question: will we ever see the Freedom Ship set sail? It seems difficult. Nixon, its most fervent supporter died in 2012. Also, the entire Freedom Ship International management team has changed in recent decades, further weakening the project’s stability.

The megaship’s construction date has not been officially announced, or where it would be built and who would be in charge of it. Too many questions for a Utopian project but which lacks the basics in order to be executed. For now, at least.

Images | Freedom Ship , Inhabitat , YouTube/mailoutenator

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December 25, 2020

Could Floating Cities Be a Haven as Coastlines Submerge?

“Seasteader” housing built on platforms would rise and fall with the tides, but practical challenges are huge

By Daniel Cusick & E&E News

A conceptual floating city featuring a sheltered marina and wind-deflecting cylindrical buildings surrounded by vegetated buffers.

Simon Nummy The Seasteading Institute

By century’s end, tens of millions of U.S. coastal property owners will face a decision embodied in the popular exhortation, “Move it or lose it.”

But there’s an option for people who can’t imagine a home without an ocean view. It’s called “seasteading,” and it could be a 21st-century antidote to the nation’s disappearing shorelines.

“Floating cities” could become climate havens for people whose lives and livelihoods are tethered to the sea or nearby coast, according to the San Francisco-based Seasteading Institute.

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In many cases, floating colonies would be populated by people whose homes are rendered uninhabitable by rising seas and storm surges that chew away at the edge of the continent.

Residents would live in modern homes built atop modular platforms that rise and fall with the tides. Some communities could be linked to the mainland by bridges and utility lines. Others could exist miles offshore as semiautonomous cities or even independent nations.

“Nearly half the world’s surface is unclaimed by any nation-state, and many coastal nations can legislate seasteads in their territorial waters,” says the Seasteading Institute, which has embraced floating cities with a near-religious fervor.

A few would occupy converted cruise ships flying under independent flags. Others would look like condominium complexes built atop ocean freighters or barges. All will provide offshore refuge from traditional seaside communities where climate hazards are becoming a part of daily life.

As an added benefit, floating cities could enjoy a limitless supply of desalinated water, while homes and businesses would be powered by microgrids pulsing with wind and solar energy.

Transportation would require little more than two feet or two wheels, and be entirely carbon-free. In deeper water, floating cities could rely on aquaculture, hydroponics and rooftop gardens. Other essentials could be delivered by barge or ship.

It’s a tough sell, often punctuated by eye rolls.

“The thing I usually hear when I first talk about this is, ‘Oh, you want to build ‘Waterworld,’” said landscape architect and seasteading advocate Greg Delaune, referring to the 1995 postapocalyptic film starring Kevin Costner as a kind of Mad Max of the sea.

“You know, that’s not really the image we want people to conjure up, but it’s often the first thing that comes to their minds. I get it,” added Delaune, who recently co-founded the Deep Blue Institute, a Louisiana-based organization dedicated to building marine-based resilient communities.

Delaune is convinced that southeast Louisiana—one of the fastest-sinking coastlines in the world—could be a U.S. prototype for such a community, where floating structures—homes, businesses, parks and marinas—would offer a more stable life than a sinking marsh.

When hurricanes and storms threaten, as is increasingly common on the fast-warming Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, modular floating cities could be partly disassembled and moved into safe harbor or to calmer waters, proponents say.

The details of how that would happen remain sketchy. But ship-based communities already have the luxury of movement, and back-bay communities would garner some protection from the ocean shore.

Futuristic as it sounds, seasteading is not new, and its adaptability to the United States is already being tested through other human-inhabited offshore infrastructure.

The Dutch model

Oil and gas platforms host hundreds of workers for months at a time. And as energy companies migrate into deeper water, floating platforms are becoming the norm. For proof, cross the Atlantic Ocean to the Netherlands, a climate-threatened country whose fate is tied to the sea.

“The Dutch have been doing this for 400 to 500 years. Now they’re selling their ideas around the world,” Delaune said. “I see no reason why we can’t design and build sustainable, resilient sea-based communities right here, borrowing on some of the same marine-resilient infrastructure that made the United States a leader in these other offshore activities.”

Experts say the origins of floating cities also lie in the Netherlands, where Dutch engineers have spent centuries adapting to life at the ocean’s doorstep. Much of the western half of the country is below sea level, and Amsterdam, with a population of 1.1 million, is nearly 7 feet below the adjoining North Sea.

The Dutch way of coastal adaptation, distilled in the phrase “living with water,” has informed urban planning in waterfront cities around the world, notably its use of highly engineered infrastructure like dikes, dams and floodgates. The Army Corps of Engineers incorporated such approaches into the redesigned Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project built after Hurricane Katrina.

Lesser known but gaining notoriety are the floating homes developed over the last two decades around Amsterdam, one of the lowest-lying cities in the world. They include IJburg, a planned residential district east of Amsterdam where more than 120 floating homes will make up “Waterbuurt West,” a floating suburb on an inland bay called the IJ. When fully developed, IJburg will support 18,000 floating homes for 45,000 people.

But what of the United States, where cities like Boston, New York, Miami, Houston and New Orleans are equally threatened by storm surges and rising seas? Experts say it’s a slow process, in part because much of the coastal adaptation conversation has focused on shoreline protection, home elevations and coastal retreat.

“The Dutch have this mentality that we can experiment. The U.S. mentality is we can’t change anything,” said Dale Morris, director of strategic partnerships at the Water Institute of the Gulf, a national nonprofit based in Baton Rouge, La., that provides research and technical support to communities preparing for sea-level rise and other climate change impacts.

For eight years after Katrina, Morris worked for the Dutch government as a liaison to Louisiana and other coastal states facing challenges around water management, flood control and climate adaptation.

Morris is an advocate for floating cities in the United States, but he is also a realist. In an interview, he said floating cities are impeded by social, political, economic and cultural barriers. Among them are the long-standing American ideals of abundant land and natural resources, and the notion that people can spread out as cities become denser, dirtier and more expensive.

That hasn’t happened. Today, 95 million Americans, nearly 30% of the U.S. population, live in coastline counties, according to the Census Bureau, compared with roughly 80 million people in 2000.

Coastal cities also experience some of the most disruptive and costly climate change impacts, as evidenced by the frequency of tropical storms like Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Harvey, which hit two of the nation’s largest urban areas. Other hazards include peak rain events, or “rainbombs,” that quickly overwhelm urban infrastructure.

And while storm surge flooding from hurricanes is catastrophic and occasional, king tides and sunny-day flooding can occur daily and are equally damaging to low-lying cities, experts say.

“There are visionaries who are investing in these important ideas, and the technology that allows us to do innovative things is improving all the time,” Morris said. “But the economic components of these ideas have to be addressed. There’s an iterative process between vision and reality.”

But, Morris noted, “it’s also true that without inspiration or vision, there is no progress.”

Big ideas, big failures

That’s where advocates have their work cut out for them.

In the United States, much of the enthusiasm for floating cities is channeled through the Seasteading Institute, which was founded by Patri Friedman, an entrepreneur and grandson of the Nobel Memorial Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman, also a libertarian.

Friedman and colleague Joe Quirk, the institute’s president, wrote the bible of floating cities, titled “Seasteading: How Floating Nations Will Restore the Environment, Enrich the Poor, Cure the Sick, and Liberate Humanity from Politicians.” In it, they say “seasteaders are radically misunderstood by landlubbers.”

Quirk did not make himself available for an interview, but in an email to E&E News, he said, “Not only is seasteading the quickest, cheapest solution to sea-level rise, we will increase the amount of life on the ocean with every seastead we build.”

While not a developer, the institute is a portal for information and advocacy materials, including research papers, blogs, podcasts and YouTube videos explaining and extolling the virtues of floating human habitation. Its website also provides a list of “active” seasteading projects.

Quick also co-created Blue Frontiers, a company that worked with French Polynesia in 2017 to establish a semiautonomous floating city off the Pacific island nation. With pilot costs estimated at between $30 million and $50 million, the project gained significant momentum before it was postponed indefinitely by the government for political reasons, according to the firm.

Most floating cities are overseas, but the institute’s list includes Delaune’s effort—called the “Louisiana Opportunity Zone Initiative,” or “Blue Tech Delta”—as well as several projects that remain under development or did not materialize.

One in California called Ventive SeaTech aims “to build permanent ocean communities for the masses, using modular structures designed to make ocean living safe, comfortable and affordable.”

Its primary product, the “floathouse,” is shaped like a capsule with windows. It’s described as “a finished home, ready to move in, and is intended to be a year-round home for individuals or a family” by Ventive SeaTech.

Another long-awaited project, conceived in 2011 by a California firm called Blueseed, would establish a floating city on a cruise ship parked in international waters about 12 miles offshore from San Francisco.

Its developers describe it an “entrepreneurial incubator” and “the Googleplex of the sea,” where international tech startups could collaborate on projects near Silicon Valley without obtaining visas to enter the United States. It raised several million dollars in seed money, including from the well-known tech financier Peter Thiel, but it has been mothballed for six years.

Where Blueseed stumbled early, another cruise ship city that was set to sail this month imploded days before leaving dry dock. The MS Satoshi, conceived as a Bitcoin-based technology hub anchored in the Gulf of Panama, was rerouted to a scrap yard in India after its owner, Ocean Builders, could not find an insurer to underwrite the floating city.

In a statement, Ocean Builders said it had “hit the roadblock of having no insurance company willing to insure the MS Satoshi upon dropping anchor in the Gulf of Panama. The closest we came was a company toying with us with a million dollar premium for a maximum of $5 million in coverage, nothing close to the coverage we would need to be legally compliant.”

The company said it will issue refunds for 100 cabins it auctioned last month for between $50,000 and $100,000 each.

For U.S.-based seasteaders like Delaune, the bridge to a floating city could be years, or even decades, away. But he is not discouraged.

Since arriving in New Orleans, he has been canvassing the region for receptive audiences. He has found a few, including at the Tulane University School of Architecture, where a primary research effort is focused on implementing ideas that emerged a decade ago through the city’s water management planning process called the “Dutch Dialogues.”

“I have my pitch deck, and I’ve been rolling it out down here over the last few months,” Delaune said. “The big spin is the dying wetlands east of New Orleans, the buffer areas, the barrier islands: People cannot live in these places anymore.”

Delaune says the project could take years to materialize. But as Louisiana undergoes a multibillion-dollar restoration of its coastline, floating communities can be a part of the solution.

“These people don’t want a Silicon Valley or NASA project to drop into their backyards,” he said. “But when your people are leaving and your economy is dying, there is no plan B except to move away.”

Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from E&E News. E&E provides daily coverage of essential energy and environmental news at www.eenews.net .

City At Sea: Plans For The World's Largest Ship

(Published in the February 1998 issue)

Norman L. Nixon loves to talk about the enormity of it all. "Walk in a straight line for about 12 minutes," he says. "If you don't dawdle, you'll cover slightly less than a mile. Now, make a right turn and walk beyond the length of two football fields. Duplicate these lines to make a rectangle, then look up to the height of a 25-story building. This is what Freedom will be." Listening to him talk about it, you begin to understand why Nixon doesn't refer to Freedom Ship as the world's largest vessel, but the world's first floating city.

" Freedom will be large enough to bring on more than 50,000 residents, 15,000 employees, 20,000 day guests and still have four times as much roaming-around square footage per person as the most modern cruise liners," Nixon says during POPULAR

MECHANICS' visit to see how his ambitious plan is progressing. Taller than the highest buildings in most American cities and topped with a runway that can handle jets, Freedom may someday be the globe-trotting address for 17,000 homes and 4000 businesses. Its dimensions are so colossal that it will have to be assembled at sea. Once it's built, Freedom will circle the earth every two years, following the balmy breezes as it approaches the world's major ports (see map above). The wealthiest of her "citizens" will leave their 15-ft. by 80-ft. ocean-view apartments and board their private jets or yachts for jaunts to shore. Meanwhile, the 15,000 people who work aboard the ship will gear up for the next on-rush of day visitors anxious to shop at its duty-free stores and guests checking in to vacation in its hotels and time-share condominiums.

As might be expected, this plan for a ship capable of carrying as many as 115,000 people - no pets allowed - has raised skeptical eyebrows among naval architects and nautical historians. They point out, among other things, that the sheer scale of Nixon's project makes it an effort fraught with unknowns. No kidding. The reason is not simply a matter of Freedom 's proposed 4320-ft. length, which is nearly five times that of the currently largest cruise ship, Carnival Cruise Line's 900-ft. Destiny , but the enormity of its mass. When naval architects compare ships, they speak in terms of tonnage rather than length. The Destiny displaces 100,000 tons of water. The largest vessel afloat, the supertanker Jahre Viking , displaces 564,739 tons. Freedom will displace 2.7 million tons.

"The general public is amazed we can design a ship that is simple and easy to build and affordable for a significant portion of the population," says Nixon. To do this, Nixon is applying a lesson he first learned as an engineering student at the University of Arkansas in the early 1960s - keep it simple. And the technology behind Freedom is as basic as it gets. Airtight compartments keep it afloat. Linked together, they function as a steel beam.

Nixon says that while there are many factors that determine a beam's maximum length, a steel beam can reasonably be expected to span a distance 15 times its height. "A ship with an effective depth of 80 ft. of hull [measured from keel to main deck] can theoretically span a maximum of 1200 ft.," Nixon says. "On Freedom , the effective beam runs 350 ft., from the bottom of the ship to the aircraft runway." The result is a 4320-ft.-long floating beam that draws 37 ft. of water as it rides atop waves, rather than plowing through them.

"We're not doing anything new," Nixon says. "We've taken technologies used in one area and applied them here." Indeed, Nixon says that during World War II the Navy used floating docks longer than Freedom . More recently, Kvaerner, the Norwegian ship and oil platform builder, proposed that the U.S. Department of Defense build a 5249-ft. floating airfield capable of supporting 10,000 troops. Called SeaBase , it would use Kvaerner's patented linking system to join three giant semi-submersible drilling rigs into a landing field.

Although similar in scope to these massive seagoing projects, Freedom actually began as an equally ambitious project on land. "We were on the verge of building an entirely new city on the 50-sq.-mile uninhabited island of East Caicos, south of the Bahamas. It was to serve as a modern Hong Kong," says Nixon. "Had the then chief minister not lost his reelection bid, we would probably be at work on the island today. In retrospect, the loss of this opportunity appears to have been the best thing that could have happened."

When a search of natural and manmade islands failed to turn up a suitable alternate location to East Caicos, one of Freedom city's original backers suggested building an island that could visit different countries each month. Strange as this suggestion seemed, it was something Nixon had actually done before. During the 1980s, he was part of a team of engineers who built a $1 billion modular ethylene plant in Japan and then towed it as more than 100 modules to Saudi Arabia, where it was reassembled. Encouraged by Nixon's hands-on experience in seagoing modular construction and the fact that he has licenses to practice structural, electrical, sanitary and civil engineering, his early supporters elected to follow his dream to sea. "And so," he says, "the Freedom Ship project was born."

Freedom promises to be as different from today's oceangoing vessels as the Queen Elizabeth II is from the Mayflower . Starting with the keel, Freedom doesn't have one. This backbone is missing because Freedom is constructed of 520 airtight steel cells. Each will measure 80 ft. tall. Depending upon its location, each will be 50 to 100 ft. wide and 50 to 120 ft. long. Assembled ashore on rails, they will be bolted together to form base units, each about 300 by 400 ft. These will then be floated out to sea and joined to form the completed base.

About 10 months after the start of construction on the first airtight cell, three base units will have been assembled at sea. At this point, the tempo of construction will increase. Meanwhile, on shore, four assembly lines will be dedicated to building airtight cells. At sea, work will begin on the 25-story superstructure. By the 17-month mark, the last base unit will be bolted in place and the 25th level completed.

Two years after the start of construction, 4000 of Freedom 's planned 21,000 units will be ready for occupancy. Her boilers will be fired up and she will set sail.

Well, not exactly. Freedom won't have the sort of boilers you find on traditional ships. She will be propelled by 3700-hp motorized units protruding through 100 of her watertight cells. About half of these will be shrouded propeller units. The balance will rotate 360 degrees, like those used on tugboats. At about $1 million each, these are among the world's most expensive marine powerplants. But, again, thinking like an engineer first and architect second, Nixon sees their cost as a bargain. This is because they can be linked to a central PC-type computer system. The helm thus becomes a joystick. And even this isn't necessary. Using GPS, Freedom 's captain could simply sketch the ship's route on a touch-screen and the $6 billion ship would find its own way. Theoretically.

Once under way, life aboard Freedom will be more like living in a bustling city than being on a vacation cruise. Because of its size, the ship will have its own railway system. Courtyards set about its decks will create interior park and recreation areas. Nixon has calculated that the resident population can support its own local economy, which means that

residents will, in many cases, also be operating businesses at sea, in malls throughout the length of the ship.

As with a land-based city, these amenities and businesses will not appear overnight. The construction schedule calls for Freedom to set sail on its first 2-year cruise as soon as its first 4000 units are finished. The rest of the ship will be built at sea. This is strictly an economic decision. " Freedom will attract labor from around the world," says Nixon. "The cost of the ship's labor force will be quite low by developed nations' standards."

By now, Nixon has grown accustomed to criticism from the mainstream shipbuilding community. One of its first complaints was his inability to furnish blueprints of the completed ship. "Ships are designed by naval architects who then turn them over to structural engineers. We began with the structural engineering and will let the architects make it pretty," he says. In retrospect, this turned out to be a good strategy.

"We originally estimated the average condo sales price would be $250,000. But it is averaging over $800,000 per unit," Nixon says. To slow the sale of the most expensive units - those facing the ocean - Nixon recently jacked up the price by 20 percent. But, he says, they are still outselling the less expensive interior units, which cost as little as $24,000, by 10 to 1. Nixon has responded by adding another level. He also has added a second airstrip atop the ship and increased its capacity to handle 100,000-pound jets.

The "we" to which Nixon repeatedly refers as he describes Freedom is a team of 24 engineers and consultants who work with his Sarasota-based firm, Engineering Solutions, via Internet connections.

Like Nixon, many are technical experts from outside naval architecture. Their backgrounds have spurred on a number of decidedly non-nautical solutions to the problems of living at sea. For example, rather than burning the cheapest marine fuel, Nixon has specified engines that require more expensive diesel fuel. His rationale is that this cleaner-burning fuel will reduce long-term engine maintenance costs and create less pollution.

Freedom's proposed environmental systems are also a major break with tradition. For instance, sewage won't be flushed into the ocean. Instead, sanitary waste will be incinerated in electric toilets. "This eliminates the need for wastewater treatment," says Nixon. It is also the reason for a no-pets policy for residents and visitors. Graywater from washing will be recycled into drinking water. Recycling is cheaper than desalinating seawater. Waste heat from the engines will be recycled for spinning generators and heating space and hot water. Nixon even has a plan to turn trash into cash. Freedom is so large that it will be possible to store recyclable materials until the ship reaches a port where the scrap will fetch the highest price.

As this issue of PM went to press, Nixon said he was evaluating bids from shipyards in South Africa, Brazil, Poland and Mexico in preparation for beginning construction this year. If the project develops as planned, we'll be filing our next progress report on it from sea.

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Freedom Cruise Line International

Dba freedom ship-city at sea, city at sea.

Envision an ideal place to live or run a business, a friendly, safe and secure community with large areas of open space and extensive entertainment and recreational facilities. Finally, picture this community continually moving around the world. You are beginning to understand the Freedom Ship concept of a massive ocean-going vessel. With a design length of 4,500 feet, a width of 750 feet, and a height of 350 feet, Freedom Ship would be more than 4 times longer than the Queen Mary. The design concepts include a mobile modern city featuring luxurious living, an extensive duty-free international shopping mall, and a full 1.7 million square foot floor set aside for various companies to showcase their products.

Freedom Ship would not be a cruise ship, it is proposed to be a unique place to live, work, retire, vacation, or visit. The proposed voyage would continuously circle the globe, covering most of the world's coastal regions. Its large fleet of commuter aircraft and hydrofoils would ferry residents and visitors to and from shore. The airport on the ship's top deck would serve private and small commercial aircraft (up to about 40 passengers each). The proposed vessel's superstructure, rising twenty-five stories above its broad main deck, would house residential space, a library, schools, and a first-class hospital in addition to retail and wholesale shops, banks, hotels, restaurants, entertainment facilities, casinos, offices, warehouses, and light manufacturing and assembly enterprises. Finally, this concept would include a wide array of recreational and athletic facilities, worthy of a world-class resort, making Freedom Ship a veritable "Community on the Sea."

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Floating Cities: 10 most fascinating existing and envisioned cruise ships

Tom brennecke.

July 8, 2023
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One cannot start to look at the newly constructed and now biggest cruise ship in the world without considering the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic slowed down many leisure industries, the cruise industry among them, without bringing them to a complete halt. And now, already this year, the market for cruise ships surpasses pre-pandemic levels in terms of passengers.

Overall, the number of passengers might, according to Statista , reach 40 million in 2027, doubling over 15 years. This slowing down made room for questions and critique from outside this industry: Do we really need cruise ships? Do we need to travel across the Atlantic in ships or planes? On one side, these voices of critique were silenced in the big halls of the Finnish Meyer Turku shipyard, where Royal Caribbean was fiddling on their latest and greatest ship, the Icon of the Seas. On the other side, climate awareness, innovation in engineering, and sustainability have arrived in the cruise industry.

This article will explore ten interestingly different approaches to cruise ships between gigantism, pragmatism, innovation, and quirkiness.

Icon of the Seas

Builder : Meyer Turku Length : 365 m

The Icon of the Seas is expected to be finished this year in 2023. It will have 20 decks, will be 365 meters long, and weigh around 250.000 tons, which is around 25 times the weight of the Eiffel Tower. Seven thousand six hundred passengers (or nearly 10.000, when accounting for the crew) will have space on it. Additionally, it will have the tallest waterfall, the largest slide, and the biggest pool at sea, according to Cruise Hive. At first glance, the most characteristic design element is its Aquadome, offering a 220-degree view and indoor theatre. The Icon of the Seas is a huge amusement -and entertainment park, offering almost everything a modern-day city has to offer: from hospitals to jails to parks and various types of public spaces.

Nevertheless, the Icon will ‘only’ be three meters longer than its sister Wonder of the Seas , and one can wonder if there will ever be a limit to the size or the number of passengers. After all, in the aviation industry, the Airbus A380 has been replaced by smaller and more efficient planes such as the A350.

Length : 196 m

“The World is the first cruise liner to offer permanent residence at sea. All apartments aboard are privately owned, but occasionally come up for sale or are rented out to help manage the cost of keeping a floating condominium. The World sails continually, docking at popular ports for two to five days at a time,” states a Travel Weekly article. But The World is not the only cruise ship offering permanent living; nevertheless the first operating for over 20 years. However, permanent (or semi-permanent) living on cruise ships or ferries ships is not necessarily unusual: A Tallink ferry in Tallinn (Estonia) has been serving as a shelter for Ukrainian refugees for months, and another cruise ship was used as a hotel for the FIFA world cup in Qatar.

Designer : Pierpaolo Lazzarini Lenght : 550 meters

Calling this floating city a cruise ship is an understatement: Italian designer Pierpaolo Lazzarini designed a 550 meters long and 610 meters wide turtle-shaped floating city. “[It is a] gigantic hull composed of nine different bows and subdivided into several blocks. This starts from the entrance of the port area to the main square, which extends into a wide terraced villa and subsequently leads to private houses, buildings, and rooftop terraces, with an upper ‘shell’ zone that offers the landing of various flying vehicles. In the lower space, the design team houses 30,000 cells or cluster compartments and provides an unsinkable floating solution for the basement, which is conceived to be realized mainly in steel,” states Ravail Khan . This floating city would be the next superstructure in Saudi Arabia, which has already undertaken a gigantic project with the NEOM city.

World City Phoenix

Designer : Knud E. Hansen Lenght : approx. 380 meter

Certainly, if someone were asked to sketch a cruise ship, this one would not necessarily be the first draft to come up today, but in 1983, Norwegian cruise tycoon Knut Kloster did. An article in Cruise Lifestyle states: “This project was designed for the Kloster Group, Norway. The project was never taken beyond the design stage.

Still, many of the features and innovations that came out of the intensive and long-running development process were later incorporated into the new generation of modern cruise liners that began to appear in the 1990s. […] Bearing a certain resemblance to a naval aircraft carrier, it was to be 380 m long, 77 m wide, and have a capacity of 5,200 passengers.” Whether someone recognized an aircraft carrier or a modern-day European suburban real estate settlement, this cruise ship and its designers have tried to push the existing boundaries.

In light of recent events surrounding OceanGate’s Titan submersible , commercial submarine cruises may have lost a little bit of their momentum. However, submarine tourism has developed and many companies around the globe offer private submarine (or submersible) tours and various excursions. Victor Vescovo, an American businessman and undersea explorer, offered, for example, deep sea dives to the lowest point of the earth with his Triton submarine, and Atlantis Adventures offers 100-feet-deep dives next to Maui island in Hawaii.

Le Commandant Charcot

Designer : Pierpaolo Lazzarini Lenght : 150 meters

This French luxury cruise ship is also an icebreaker and can travel to the North Pole. It has a guest capacity of 270 and a crew capacity of 235. Built in Norway and designed by Finnish ship-company Aker Arctic, it comes with an indoor swimming pool, spa, a few restaurants, and suites with balconies. Already in the past, icebreakers were partly used for tourism, perhaps partly to finance their expensive usage. The Russian nuclear icebreakers 50 let pobedy and Yamal are examples of that.

Builder : Huanghai Shipbuilding, Shandong, China Length : 126 m

The Aranui 5 “[…] is a custom-built, dual-purpose passenger/freighter ship designed to offer all of the comforts of a cruise liner, while operating as a supply ship. Aranui 5 is [can] accommodating approximately 230 passengers in 103 cabins”, states the official website . This ship commutes between the Tahiti islands of Tuamotu -and Marquesas and has replaced the older Aranui 3, which, according to an article in the Maritime Executive , looked more like a cargo ship and was of lower quality.

Builder : Fincantieri Length : 323 m

With 323 meters in length, not particularly small, but with a focus on a luxurious experience, Cunard’s Queen Anne will embark on its Maiden Voyage in 2024. Queen Anne will be the fourth ship in service of Cunard, besides Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria, and Queen Elizabeth. London-based design studio David Collins has specialized in luxury interiors, mostly for hotels and malls, and was in charge of the ship’s design. Just as on board the Titanic, value was put on elegance, charm, and luxury; in fact, Cunard has been one of two companies, together with White Star Line, that built the Titanic, building and operating out of Liverpool.

Builder : Helsinki Shipyard (Hietalahti-Helsinki, Finland) Length : 224 meters

As the image immediately suggests, this is not an ordinary cruise ship. The Ecoship’s focus, designed by Japanese NGO Peace Boat in collaboration with Spanish Oliver Design, is based on human rights and environmental sustainability. To do that, the ship is a high-tech machine “[…] [with] 10 large retractable elements made up of solar panels, which can operate as large sails in suitable wind conditions. The revolutionary sails can be used for propulsion and, at the same time to generate power. […] In addition, the Ecoship will have all the latest advances in waste disposal and architectural design features based on the biophilia concept. Biophilia is a building concept that advocates maximum use of natural elements such as air, light, and water” so the News Outlet Safety4Sea .

Sun Cruise Resort & Yacht

Length : 165 meters

Technically not an operating cruise ship but a fascinating approach to a hotel on South Korea’s Eastern coast. Quoting an article in The World of Cruising: “To give you the feeling – without the heaving – that you are cruising far out to sea, there are piped crying seagulls, sea breezes, and the sound of waves lapping against the hull. There is the ambient smell of ozone too. […] It has six function rooms, restaurants, a rotating, netted golf range, a volleyball court, and a fitness center. Naturally, the swimming pool is filled with seawater. […] Influenced by the design of a Royal Caribbean International sovereign-class cruise ship, the bizarre hotel was conceived to serve a practical need: to give tourists who couldn’t afford a cruise, the experience of being on a ship.”

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Your ultimate resource for anything ship-related

Cruise ship The World is a floating city of millionaires

The home at sea

Imagine that your home is on a cruise ship. You live at home and travel the world at the same time. What can be more fun than this?

Seems like an unlikely scenario, but this kind of propriety exists. Meet The World, a ship that travels around the Globe for the owners of its cabins.

Let me explain. The World is a floating city of millionaires. It's the 21st century Titanic in terms of grandeur. The 200m vessel is the largest privately owned residential yacht. The residents are from 45 countries, and all live aboard as the ship travels. Some of them live on board full-time, while others visit periodically.

The World was the idea of Knut Kloster, a Norwegian with ties in the marine industry. The hull was built in Sweden with the superstructure completed in Norway. The ship was launched in 2002 and by 2006 all the residences were sold. She has 165 residences: 106 apartments, 19 studio apartments, and 40 studios.

The ship is operated by ROW Management Ltd, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America, but sails under the Bahamas flag.

Owned by its residents

When launched, the concept was a bit different. And it nearly went broke. The ship was then owned by a hotel company, and the sixth floor was initially reserved for hotel rooms. But it didn't work. In 2003, the business model was changed. No more tourists on board, only residents of a very high net worth. Until now MS The World remains the only residential cruise liner in existence.

All the residents are shareholders and vote on everything that happens with the ship: from the yearly route to the Christmas decorations.

So, what kind of people buy a propriety on a cruise vessel? Some very wealthy people, of course. The type of people that own private jets, collect art and have more than one residence.

Also, they value their privacy and confidentiality. The ship is a sanctuary, a refuge, and no paparazzi are allowed near it.

Nobody knows who lives on the ship.

142 unidentified families reside on the ship and everybody have undergone a strict vetting process before being allowed to buy. according to some sources, the average age is 64 years old.

Most residents spend about six months every year on board the ship. Christmas is a popular time to be on board with their families and friends.

Life in a sea of luxury

Life on the The World is impressive. Each apartment receives complementary cleaning service twice a day. Bathrooms are stocked with Bvlgari toiletries each day. There is internet wifi coverage even when at sea. There are doctors on board; even a pilates teacher is available.

The ship offers myriad services and amenities. These include an art gallery, arts & crafts, billiards, florist, gourmet deli, housekeeping, laundry, library, Medical Center, nightclub. There is also a non-denominational chapel, sports center offering real and virtual golf excursions to the world’s top-ranked courses, The World Boutique & Showroom, The World Concierge, The World Spa & Wellness Center, theater, video and board games, video-on-demand, and youth program.

But the question is: people with such financial ability aren't more comfortable on their own private superyacht?

The appeal of the The World lies in the adventurous itineraries.

In 2017, the World will sail approximately 44,000 nautical miles visiting more than 100 ports of call in over 20 countries. Residents will learn about different cultures, plus enjoy expeditions to two of the most remote regions on earth (Antarctica and Melanesia), all from the comfort of their own home on this one-of-a-kind ship. The 2017 journey begins in Sydney harbor, exploring the heart-shaped island of Tasmania and its unique treasures before an extensive visit up the coast of New Zealand through famed vineyards and lush hillsides. This spring the ship visits East Asia and discovers the unique traditions of Japan, Shanghai’s glamorous past and the dazzling neon lights of Hong Kong. After a Pacific crossing, summertime begins amid the beautiful blue water and tropical islands of Hawaii before saying aloha and venturing up the California coast to western Canada. The World then reverses course and heads south to explore the Sea of Cortez and Central America before transiting the infamous Panama Canal. Winter brings a voyage up and down the U.S. east coast, Bermuda’s pink sand beaches and a spectacular New Year’s celebration in the Miami, Florida.

Beside the classic itinerary, three times a year, the ship goes on expeditions into unusual destinations. The crew is joined by environmentalists and scientists who give an expert opinion about the destinations. It's like being back to school for a week, says one of the residents.

The World is a small floating town

MS The World is a 196m cruise ship with a tonnage of 43,188 GT. It has a maximum beam of 30m and a draft of 7m. The crew and residents quarters are located on 12 decks. The maximum speed is 18.5 knots.

The ship is privately owned by residents: 142 families from 19 countries – North America (49%), various European countries (36%), and Asia, Australia, and South Africa (15%).

The ship needs a crew of 280 people. The staff is international, with some 42 nationalities on board.

Construction of the vessel began in May 2000 in Rissa, Norway and in March 2002 the vision was realized when The World set sail from Oslo with its inaugural residents on board. Her maiden voyage departed from Lisbon, Portugal on 2 May 2002 and on 17 May 2002 she was christened in Venice, Italy. On 30 September 2003 the residents purchased the ship, and in June 2006, the original inventory of residences was sold out.

The World is the first ship of its size burning marine diesel oil rather than heavy bunker fuel, making for a much more environmentally friendly ship and allowing The World to call in areas where ships burning heavy fuel are banned.

Soon, The World won't be the sole ship of its kind. Another project, even larger, is in progress. The ship will be named Utopia and she is scheduled to set sail in 2021. The Utopia ship is 300m long and it's being built at the Samsung shipyards. With a tonnage of 108,000 GT, Utopia will be propelled by six Wartsila diesel engines for a top speed of 22 knots.

She will have 199 luxury residences and 218 hotel rooms. For operating the ship, she will need a crew of 600 people.

Inside the giant floating city that costs £8 billion and could carry 100,000 people

This is incredible.

Gabriella Ferlita

For most travellers, a cruise is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But what if going on a cruise was your whole life ?

Well, for those on the Freedom Ship, that could be their reality.

Hailed as ‘a unique place to live, work, retire, vacation, or visit’ as opposed to a regular cruise ship , the vessel would sail the seas at five times the size of the biggest ships at over a mile long.

With the capacity to carry over 100,000 passengers, the enormous ship would provide those on board with a never-ending voyage across the globe through all seven seas .

For travellers, going on a cruise could be a life-long event.

Departing from the UK, the Freedom Ship would travel past France into the Mediterranean before exploring the continent of Africa and travelling into the Indian Ocean.

The transferable community would then head around Australia and towards China before going across the Pacific Ocean and towards the coast of the Americas.

The ship would not make a stop for any reason other than to collect supplies which could not be transported via the aircraft and runway on its top deck.

Tourists and the ship’s residents are able to freely come and go via the planes which can land on top of the ship, too, as well as the fleet of ferries which will travel to and from the ship to transport people back to land.

The vessel would be five times the size of the biggest ships at over a mile long.

And because of the ship’s incredible size, passengers are able to travel across the mile-long vehicle using the onboard tram system.

Tourists and residents alike would be able to find everything they need to thrive on their potentially life-long trip, including schools, shops, gyms, hospitals and restaurants.

The ship's capacity would be made up of 40,000 full-time residents, 30,000 daily visitors, 10,000 hotel guests and 20,000-time crew.

For those wanting to have a taste of the full-time cruise life, a luxurious pad with a sea view could set travellers back £9 million, while more affordable options start at just £150,000 .

The ship would only stop to collect supplies.

Although on the surface, the Freedom Ship appears to cater to every traveller’s need - it has yet to have gotten off the ground.

The ship was originally proposed in the 1990s, and has seen many moves between different firms and investors between then and now.

The original design seems to be owned by Freedom Cruise Line International, whilst plans still appear to be up in the air as construction plans have not been set in stone.

Looks like we might have to wait a little longer to get that lifetime-worthy cruise we’re all dreaming of.

Topics: Travel , Viral , World News

Gabriella Ferlita is a full-time journalist at LADbible Group, writing on lifestyle, communities and news across Tyla, LADbible and UNILAD. When she's not writing, she's fussing over her five-year-old Toyger cat, Clarence.

@ Gabriellaf_17

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Maldives Floating City – Finalist Mipim Awards. View here

Inspiration

Brain coral: concept inspiration for maldives floating city.

Maldives Floating City is the first development of a new era in which Maldivians return to the water with resilient eco-friendly floating projects. The city has a nature-based structure of roads and water canals resembling the beautiful and efficient way in which real brain coral is organised. The idea of having brain coral as the leading concept is that the goal of living with nature and learning to improve and respect natural coral is at the heart of the development, which leads to new knowledge emphasising the responsibility Maldives takes as centre for coral protection in the world.

A development of Dutch Docklands in joint-venture with the Government of Maldives

Masterplan architect: Waterstudio.nl

Lagoon close to the capital Male and the International Airport

Lagoon over 200 ha (more than 500 acres)

Several thousands of housing units, all floating, all waterfront

Mixed-use community: residential, hotels, shops, restaurants

Sales will start soon and expressions of interest can already be made on this website.

Maldives Floating City, a benchmark for vibrant communities beyond the waterfront.

It is the first floating city with thousands of houses that has full governmental support, based on a legal framework and title deeds for the owners. It also offers the unique possibility to obtain a residence-permit with the purchase of a house, inviting the international community to live here (semi) permanently and enjoy the Maldivian lifestyle, mixing green values with a sense of place based on centuries of experience with living with the sea. And then the perfect weather and tropical surroundings…

Maldives Floating City is based on the local culture of this sea-farers nation. Maldivians have a strong relation with the sea, so living on water is aligned with their culture and history. The city characterizes as a boating community, using the canals as main infrastructure for logistics and gateways, and by doing so reducing land-based movements to walking and biking on natural white sand roads. No cars are allowed, only bicycles and electric noise-free buggies/scooters.

Developer Dutch Docklands and the architects of Waterstudio have conceptualized a next-generation sea-level rise-proof urban development, bringing safety and development space to the Maldives with a mix of green technology, safety, commercial viability and a healthy new lifestyle, which will be the backbone of future floating cities. By doing so, the Maldivians will rewrite their destiny from climate refugees to climate innovators.

Located on only ten minutes by boat from the capital Male and the international airport, the Maldives Floating City is a dynamic, flexible city with a smart grid that can respond to dynamic demand, weather and climate change. It uses innovative sustainable development technologies and applies ecological best practices to protect, preserve and enhance the pristine marine eco-system. This concept is a world first and a will be the benchmark for future developments around the globe.

It is a unique city, both above and underneath the water surface, creating blue habitats projecting and stimulating coral growth. Artificial coral banks will be attached to the underside of the city, which will stimulate coral to grow naturally. The submerged and protected coral reefs of the lagoon will provide a natural wave (reduction) breaker that, in combination with the interrelated grid of floating structures, provides comfort and safety for the residents.

10 Requirements

A floating city must be part of a legal framework of a city or country. This gives the inhabitants a legal status. The floating homes and other structures must be labelled as real-estate, like in Maldives, in order to make finance and insurance possible.

A city consisting of thousands of units can only be build when infrastructure and units are built from a modular system in order to ensure quality, standardization, certification, short construction time, cost control and efficient maintenance.

A floating city needs gateways for inhabitants and visitors to reach the city easily. Modern cities have hundreds of entrance points, a cruise ship has only a few. A floating city with canals provides multiple access points.

Power and utilities are the backbone of a floating city. The reduction of energy consumption and production of green/blue energy in a smart grid where each unit shares and uses the surplus of available energy is an essential element for a viable floating city.

The healthy viable metabolism of a floating city is depending on the supply and distribution of goods, storage and controlled waste treatment and disposal. Supply and waste management must be integrated in the urban planning. A healthy floating city starts with the metabolism structure.

Shadows caused by space covered with floating structures must be in balance with the amount of sunlight that can reach the seabed. Large floating structures must provide enough open space. The floating structures must enhance underwater life, instead of causing any negative effects.

Forces of nature, waves, extreme weather, and sea-level rise for a 100-year prediction must be engineered in advance. Rigidity versus flexibility and a mooring system that can divert all the extreme forces are the base of a floating city design. Single structure city foundations act as huge mega ships, which have to handle enormous forces. By dividing the city in elements these forces can be handled in a more effective way with minimal risks.

A floating city needs law and order as well as a defence system. Once the floating city is part of an existing law and order framework, this will enable inhabitants to live in a safe and protected environment.

A floating city must be a dynamic city, which means its structure must have ability to be adjusted, appended and updated as building for change is the only way to response to unknown challenges of the future. A city with a growth model existing of smaller structures will provide this flexibility.

A floating city is more than just the sum of the built structures. Community-based developments are based on culture and common liveability goals, and will be the backbone of a healthy and feasible city.

Residence Permit

Foreign buyers of a house in Maldives Floating City can apply for a Residence Permit in Maldives. More information will follow soon.

THE FUTURE OF MOBILITY IS HERE

CITY AT SEA

CITY AT SEAS

Retire At Sea

Why Floating City

According to the World Economic Forum, more than half the global population lives in cities–a figure that’s expected to rise to 80% by 2050. With nearly seven billion people projected to be living in urban areas in little more than a generation and, with global energy consumption on the rise, against a backdrop of more extreme weather events driven by climate change, it’s imperative for cities to invest in more sustainable infrastructure and resources.

Our Living Style Makes Best Luxury

Envision an ideal place to live or run a business, a friendly, safe and secure community with large areas of open space and extensive entertainment and recreational facilities. Finally, picture this community continually moving around the world. You are beginning to understand the Floating City concept of a massive ocean-going vessel. With a design length of 1393 Meter , a beam of 230 Meter, and a height of 110 Meter, Floating City would be more than 4 times longer than the Queen Mary. The design concepts include a mobile modern city featuring luxurious living, an extensive duty-free international shopping mall, and a full 2.0 million square foot floor set aside for various companies to showcase their products.

Explore Your Business While Cruising Around The World

Our Global Business Networking is the Best spot for explore your Products around the World While cruising

Retirement on a cruise ship is a major lifestyle shift

If you enjoyed cruises during your vacation time, it may be appealing to think about moving onboard permanently in retirement. Cruising has become increasingly accessible during the last decade and continues to provide a somewhat leisurely mode to explore the world. While the idea of setting sail and enjoying a plethora of amenities can be attractive, there are logistics to consider before signing up for long-term cruising.

WHY SMART CITY

A.I the New Era Technology

Our Historic Museum Crafted with Artificial Intelligence Technology recreates our Historic leaders and you have a chance to experience live shows and interact with them directly who speak with you about their original mannerisms.

FCL In Numbers

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GLOBAL SUSTAINABLE COUNCIL,UK

AISDC,INDIA

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VC LIMITED,UK

We’re looking for innovative talent to join our team. See all positions and submit your CV.

We are looking for Advisors for Floating City Project

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What happens when someone dies on a cruise ship?

By Connor Sturges

Round tables with chairs on deck of liner

We’ve all heard of Death on the Nile , Agatha Christie’s captivating tale of jealousy, deceit and ultimately, death aboard a luxury liner headed for Egypt ’s most iconic sights. However, fictitious (and sinister) elements aside, what really happens when someone passes away while navigating the world's waters?

This morbid question recently raced through the minds of many TikTok users following ex-cruise ship singer Dara Starr Tucker’s video on the correlation between people passing away on the high seas and… ice cream .

Dara explained what she'd heard from an on-board medical professional in a video that has since surpassed three million views and garnered more than 225,000 interactions. “If the crew suddenly makes a bunch of ice cream available to the passengers… it is often because more people have died on the ship than they have room for in the morgue”, she says in the viral clip.

Image may contain Nature Outdoors Sky Horizon Scenery Sea Water Boat Transportation and Vehicle

But is this connection a truth cruise companies would rather have kept under wraps or a rumour that’s spread like wildfire over the year? What really happens when someone dies on a cruise?

After reaching out to several cruise line companies and failing to receive a response, we tracked down an ex-cruise worker with over a decade of experience under their belt who was happy to spill the beans (anonymously) about his time at sea.

For context, while guests dying on a cruise ship is an unfortunate situation and a sad end to any trip for the loved ones involved, it’s an inevitable occurrence. With this in mind, cruise ships must have facilities on board that ideally intervene with nature’s plans before the worst happens.

“You would have a full medical facility on board. You would have an ICU… four wards… two doctors… and something like five nurses and a medical administrator, and that was for 3000 guests”, says our source. “It's a full unit. They can put someone onto a ventilator very easily and keep them alive [until] the next port of call [when the patient can] go off in an ambulance and go to a main hospital.”

It’s no secret that large cruise ships have medical professionals on board at all times. In fact, Celebrity Cruises captain and content creator Kate Mccue called out for doctors and nurses looking to put their people-saving skills to work while exploring the seven continents. These facilities' capabilities are impressive, and while major surgeries are reserved for mainland services in ideal scenarios, it’s not out of the question for onboard doctors to get to work if time is of the essence.

However, from time to time, the efforts of medical professionals aren’t enough. Also, passengers who die on a cruise ship are just as likely, if not more so, to pass peacefully in their sleep. So what’s the procedure when the worst happens at sea?

View on a rough sea with waves of the open ocean from a boat. Dramatic landscapes of the Atlantic Ocean.

“It's obviously a very sensitive process,” our source explains: “You have different teams doing different actions. For example, as soon as a dead body is discovered, if they don't die in the medical centre and they die overnight, there are different teams that have to deal with different things.”

“They've got the facilities to contact their family, and we buddy them up with someone for the next few days, until they get off, to make sure they've got whatever they need and they can grieve. People are very different. Some people just want you to be there 24/7 and talk to you about anything and everything, and then others will just want solo time, so you just want to check in with them.”

Unsurprisingly, if a deceased guest is discovered in a cabin, the area can be designated a crime scene – even if no foul play is suspected at first glance.

If no suspicious circumstances are suspected, it’s time to move the deceased guest from the place of their passing – which comes with a unique set of potential problems. Our source recalls having to ferry a body, on one occasion, from a stateroom to the cruise ship morgue, which is found towards the bottom of the ship by the medical facilities.

“We shut off areas of the ship, and we can register lifts so we can go into a lift and know that no one else can get into that lift, so guests won't have the doors open to us.”

Depending on the cruise ship’s itinerary, bodies are stored ready to be disembarked at the next port or released to the relevant services on home turf if the ship’s course is coming to an end – an easier result for bereaved loved ones ready to start making arrangements.

So, what does our avid sailor think of the “ice cream party” rumour?

“I’ve worked at sea now verging on 10 years, and this is a rumour that goes around. On the ships that I’ve worked on [large cruise ships], that would never be the case.”

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11 Around-The-World Cruises For An Epic Getaway

"Sailing around the world" sounds so romantic, doesn't it? You're sailing to remote islands with like-minded people while chasing sunsets on a distant horizon. Sure, you can just board a plane to, say, New Zealand, but there's something so pure and patient about maritime journeys. Cruises are like floating resorts, which ease their way over the waves. It's the definition of "slow travel."

Amazingly, in the modern world of jet-setting travel, round-the-world cruises do exist. Voyagers visit dozens of ports over the course of their odyssey, each with its own landscape, climate, and personality. There are lots of ways travelers can experience "the trip of a lifetime," but this kind of circumnavigation outmatches just about all of them -- and in style. However, there are a few things to consider before investigating such cruises. First, what does it actually mean to sail "around the world?"

Many companies use this phrase — and sail thousands of nautical miles — but only around a single ocean or hemisphere. Even when ships do sail a distance equivalent to the equator (or more), they rarely return to their precise port of origin. Also, these epic cruise vacations can be pricey ; the kind of dream that merits cashing in a 401K, and the time commitment is also substantial, meaning months on the water. But for diehard cruisers, crisscrossing the planet could easily be worth the time and money, and if this sounds like you, these 11 cruise lines are scheduled to sail around the world.

Read more: The Prettiest Waters Around The World

Viking: World Cruise

For 138 days, passengers frog-hop through the Caribbean, pass through the Panama Canal, make their way to the islands of Polynesia, and skirt Australia, Asia, and Europe before finally dropping their anchor in London. On Viking's World Cruise, you can step ashore in 28 different nations and pick from 57 guided tours. Viking has been a prolific, respected cruise line since its founding in 1997, and this three-quarter circumnavigation sets sail in December 2024, so there's still time to book.

Ships are equipped with spas, luxury dining options, and cabin beds that can be separated or combined, among many other touches. Long before stepping aboard, the Viking website has a virtual 360-degree tour, acquainting future travelers with the ship's staterooms. Viking has thoughtfully put together a reading list to help travelers get a deeper understanding of the countries they will visit, which is especially helpful in little-understood destinations like Moorea and Indonesia. The ship also has a sizable library onboard for further research. This, plus its sophisticated tours and dining options that reflect the culture of each port, may explain Viking's moniker, "the thinking person's cruise." Quality does come at a price, with full passage starting at $59,995.

Ambassador: Grand Round The World Cruise

The Ambiance sets off from London, crosses the Atlantic, passes through Panama, and hits Australia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America before pinging back to the United Kingdom. Not only do you cross all the major oceans, but you actually cross the Atlantic three times. Most of these destinations are warm-weather ports, including Sydney at the height of summer. Sunscreen and wide-brimmed hats are recommended on this largely equatorial route.

Ambassador is new to the cruise scene, having been established in the United Kingdom in 2021, and Ambiance is its flagship vessel. Passengers will spend their 120-night voyage in extreme comfort, traveling to 24 countries and 34 ports of call, with top-notch dining, live entertainment, and about 35,000 nautical miles in between. If you can live without a porthole, opting for an inside cabin on the cruise , then passage starts at the budget-friendly price of $8,500 per person, making this Ambassador cruise one of the most economical on this list. You can also add on drink packages and arrange tours in advance or onboard through an agent or the Ambassador app. You can also explore the ship before you travel, thanks to a 360-degree virtual tour. The 2024 voyage sets sail on June 6.

Regent: World Cruise

The 2026 Regent World Cruise starts in Miami and ends in Miami, which makes it convenient to coordinate, especially if you're already based in the United States. Regent Seven Seas Cruises was founded in 1992 and is a respected brand in the industry.

The ship, the Seven Seas Mariner, also lives up to its name with a formidable 154-night itinerary: the Panama Canal, points along Central America, a dozen Pacific islands, Australia, South Asia, East Africa, and two Atlantic islands before returning to Florida. The Mariner arrives in many well-trod ports like Cape Town and Acapulco, but the route also includes locations that most travelers would have trouble pinpointing on a map: Lautoka, Abidjan, and Male are all names cruisers will become familiar with. To really explore these places, Regent organizes a whopping 431 free shore excursions across six continents, 77 ports, and 47 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Sailing nearly 40,000 nautical miles with world-class spas, dining, and entertainment aboard doesn't come cheap. While you'll need to contact Regent to request specific prices, passengers can expect to pay nearly $100,000 for passage. Regent's World Cruise is considered a luxury-level experience with first-class airfare, gratuities, and 24-hour room service included. If this is your tax bracket, just wait until you see the suites.

Royal Caribbean: Ultimate World Cruise

Royal Caribbean has been taking tourists to far-flung destinations since the late 1960s, and it's now one of the most recognizable cruise companies in the world, so naturally Royal Caribbean would host a round-the-world voyage. But even for seasoned travelers, the Ultimate World Cruise is pretty, well, ultimate. Royal Caribbean's world cruise lasts 274 nights and arrives in no fewer than 60 countries. In other words, you'll spend nine months at sea and personally visit more than a quarter of the sovereign nations on Earth. The saga starts and ends in Miami, where the Royal Caribbean is headquartered, which should make arrangements easy.

The biggest bragging right of all: This cruise touches on every single continent, including Elephant Island and Paradise Bay in Antarctica. You'll find yourself in both Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Australia, plus ports you've never even heard of. That said, unless your soul is fueled by pure wanderlust, this itinerary may sound like a lot of cruising, which may explain why Royal Caribbean has divided the journey into four segments. Cruisers don't have to commit to the entire itinerary; they can easily pick from the quarter that most interests them.

By the time you read this, a segment may be the only option left, as the next Ultimate World Cruise departs in December of 2023. The segments are significantly more affordable as well. An interior stateroom for the full cruise costs at least $60,000 per person, while a segment starts at $12,500.

Cunard: Full World Voyage

When the Queen Mary 2 departs from New York City on January 3, 2024, it won't return to this same harbor for 123 nights. The itinerary isn't exactly "around the world," but rather a crossing of the Eastern Hemisphere — twice. Passengers traverse the Atlantic to the United Kingdom, then ease their way down the eastern coast of Africa before beelining for Australia. The ship boomerangs back, with many stops in Asia, a shortcut through the Suez Canal, and a tour of the Mediterranean before heading back to the U.S.

The voyage comes at the heels of Cunard's 100th anniversary, making it the second-oldest company on the list. The Queen Mary 2 has been Cunard's flagship vessel since 2004, and the company has mastered hospitality over the past century, with exceptional dining, luxury suites, and Broadway-quality performances by the Royal Court Theatre. Cunard also takes pride in its children's facilities, encouraging families to travel together, as well as the great English tradition of afternoon tea. Most of the budget cabins on the Queen Mary 2 were already booked at the time of this writing, but cabins with balconies are still available, starting at the not-ludicrous price of $16,899 per person.

Oceania: Around The World In 180 Days

When Junes Verne wrote his novel "Around the World in Eighty Days," his Victorian goal was to travel as quickly as possible. Oceania is now advertising the opposite: This journey takes passengers the long way from Los Angeles to New York City, across the Pacific, around Australia, along the coasts of East Asia, and then up through the Middle East, Mediterranean, Northern Europe, and even Greenland. The itinerary doesn't spend much time in the "global south," so you'll have to visit Africa and South America another time.

The Miami-based Oceania was founded in 2002 and specializes in long-haul cruises, so they know their system well. This cruise may be especially appealing to foodies. The company takes particular pride in its onboard meals as well as in-country Culinary Discovery Tours. Passengers can also take advantage of The Aquamar Spa & Vitality Center, which can orchestrate a special dietary regimen.

Oceania exudes "small-ship luxury" and caps its total number of passengers at 1,250. Everything about the ship is more intimate than found on its larger cousins, from the live entertainment to the duty-free boutiques. If you like a small-town feel, 180 days should be just enough time to meet all your shipmates. If you can't summon the time or (at least) $47,599 by January 2024, the next ship departs in January 2025.

Princess: 111-Day World Cruise

This Princess cruise is another true circumnavigation, starting in Los Angeles and bearing west until the ship arrives back at its original dock. The 111-day cruise starts on January 18, 2024, and includes all three major oceans, both the Suez and Panama Canals, plus 47 ports along the way. The itinerary is light on Asian and African ports and skips South America altogether, but you can still enjoy visits to Australia, the Middle East, and numerous destinations around Europe.

Princess is a hallowed name in the cruise industry. Not only have its ships been sailing the world since the 1960s, but Princess is still one of the most profitable cruise companies in the world. Passengers can expect onboard enrichment programs, award-winning live performances, and rejuvenating treatments at the Lotus Spa. Each port will also bring its own offerings of special excursions, from river rafting to art tours.

With its dependable quality of service and nearly four-month itinerary, it's remarkable that base bookings start at only $15,498. Better yet, if you want to circle the globe with the whole family, this Princess itinerary is a family-friendly cruise and offers youth programming, which is not always the case. If you miss this one, no worries. Three more, of varying lengths, are slated for January 2025.

Holland America Line: Grand World Voyage

Fort Lauderdale is the beginning and end point for the Zuiderdam, which spends 128 days making a complete circle around the globe. Holland America's Grand World Voyage is true to its name. Passengers travel across the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, making port on five continents. Most of its destinations are clustered around Asia and the Mediterranean, and it skips over Australia. But the Voyage is a rare opportunity to sail up the Amazon River, with visits to inland Brazilian cities most travelers would never think to visit.

Holland America began as a shipping and passenger line in the mid-19th Century, and its history of cruising is nearly as old as the concept. The flagship Zuiderdam is a luxury vessel with a swimming pool and sizable theater. It also boasts several diverse dining areas, including the Pinnacle Grill steakhouse, the Italian-themed Canaletto, and the à la carte Lido Market. There's Billboard Onboard, a special room for trivia nights and karaoke, as well as World Stage, a presentation space with a wraparound LED screen. Bookings start at the more expensive rate of $22,499 for an inside cabin, and the 2024 voyage will set sail on January 3, 2024, but you can expect additional Grand World Voyages to be slated in the coming years.

Azamara: World Voyage

Formerly part of the Royal Caribbean fleet, Azamara is now an independent company taking its own journeys. The 2025 World Voyage begins in San Diego and sails westward, across the Pacific, to Australia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean, before passengers disembark in Barcelona. The World Voyage doesn't quite girdle the globe, stopping just short of the Atlantic Ocean, and the only stop in Africa is Giza. But this 155-night expedition should satisfy almost any traveler, especially with its 40 countries and 22 overnights.

Unlike many world cruises, Azamara has divided its full itinerary into segments with clear geographic themes, such as "South Pacific Jewels" and "Mediterranean Icons." These titles can help turn experiences into coherent narratives. For example, "Ancient Pathways" draws a historic and economic line between Mumbai and Athens, along with all ports in between. These themes are coupled with thoughtful excursions, which are often scheduled around local holidays and festivals. The World Voyage for 2024 appears to be sold out, but the 2025 edition sets sail on January 5. Passage starts at a princely $39,999.

Freighter Cruises

Some of us want to keep it simple. No need for late-night show-stoppers, cocktail parties with hundreds of strangers, or daring bets at the roulette wheel. "Freighter cruises" have gone by many names over the years, such as "banana boats" and "cargo cruises," but passengers have hitched rides on commercial ships since the dawn of seafaring. These accommodations come in many forms, and you do have to share your vessel with stacks of massive shipping containers; still, you can expect a comfortable cabin and regular meals, along with friendly and respectful crewmembers from around the world. For travelers with a Jack London streak, the freighter cruise feels raw and adventurous.

The Freighter Travel Club was founded in 1958, and companies like Maris Freighter Cruises and Voyage en Cargo have booked passengers on commercial vessels for years. Maris has arranged round-the-world itineraries in the past, and multi-week journeys are common, as enormous loads are floated from one nation to the next. The pandemic took its toll on this niche industry, and most of these journeys do not precisely travel around the world. But when they're in operation, freighter cruises usually cost a little over $100 per day, and savvy travelers have flexibility in their bookings.

Miray Cruises: Life At Sea

Sure, cruising is fun, but what if you want to turn your ship into a semi-permanent address? Life at Sea Cruises promises three years of luxury seafaring, with stops in 140 countries across all seven continents. By the time you're done with these 382 ports, you'll have more photos to sort through and stories to share than most people will amass in a lifetime.

That sounds life-changing, but we'll have to see whether it's too good to be true. Life at Sea is a brand-new enterprise from Miray Cruises, and the maiden voyage has been fraught with delays. However, at the time of this writing, Life at Sea should get underway by the end of 2023, and most full-voyage passengers should already be sailing by 2024. If all goes well, there are four scheduled embarkation options for travelers who want to hop aboard later on, and more will likely be scheduled.

One of the problems has been the ship itself. For a while, the purchase of the ship was in limbo, pushing back the original sail date. However, the MV Lara now seems ready to sail. The medium-sized vessel has space for 1,266 passengers, with a range of cozy cabins, a wellness center, and a pool deck, among many other amenities. Travelers committed to living at sea for three years should get a lot out of their floating home. Life at Sea is a dreamy concept, so let's hope for calm waters once it finally sets sail.

Read the original article on Explore .

I steered ships like the Dali for 13 years. Entering and leaving a port is extremely challenging — here's what should have been done in Baltimore.

Sachin Saxena is a former ship captain who spent 13 years navigating the globe on large ships.
He breaks down the process of entering and exiting ports in big vessels like the Dali.
In emergencies like power failures, a ship can't just stop and there's a lot of pressure on board.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sachin Saxena, a 45-year-old former ship captain from Singapore. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I captained ships transporting liquid petroleum gas from Asia to the United States for 13 years, from 1997 to 2010. Entering or leaving a port is one of the most challenging parts of any voyage. When you enter a port, you need to consider everything from currents to shallow patches and bridges.

When I saw the news about the MV Dali hitting the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, I wasn't worried about the crew. I knew the crew would be safe because the ship was still floating. I was more concerned about people outside the ship.

Hitting a bridge would be a navigation team's worst nightmare. If the MV Dali's power had failed after the vessel had passed the bridge, I believe nothing would have happened.

It's not unusual for a ship to hit a bridge, but there are protocols to prevent it

It's not unusual for a ship to hit a bridge, especially in the US, which has many sea bridges . Seeing the MV Dali incident, the crew couldn't do much because there was so little distance between the vessel and the bridge and it was the result of a power failure.

When I was a captain and used to pass bridges, I would stand on the top of what sailors call "monkey island," a deck in front of the navigating bridge and the uppermost accessible part of the ship, to ensure we had clearance and everything went smoothly.

The procedure when an incident like this happens

If my ship suddenly lost power, the first thing I'd do would be to drop the anchor. You don't need power to do this. However, anchors aren't always effective if the ship is moving fast. Each ship, whether a container ship, dry bulk, chemical, or LPG ship, will have an emergency generator. This will start about 45 seconds after the ship's power has failed.

This doesn't give you full steering, but it gives you emergency steering that you can use to get into clear water and anchor. It takes time to slow a ship down. If you're moving at 5 knots and put on the brake, it will slowly come down to 4.8 knots, 4.6 knots, and so on — it won't just stop. There isn't a single solution to such a situation. Each case is different.

There are several questions that an internal auditor would want the management of the ship to answer

After I stopped working as a captain, I became an internal auditor for a shipping company, where I carried out audits on the health, safety, and environment of merchant ships worldwide.

When you first hear that an incident like the Baltimore crash has occurred, there are several questions that, as an internal auditor, I'd want the management of the ship to answer. I'd want to know whether the bridge was mentioned in the passage-plan meeting — a meeting before the voyage attended by the captain and senior officers from the navigation team and engineering. You also have another meeting about the next port while at the previous port, where you'd discuss things such as currents.

I'd also want to know what triggered this power failure. Has it happened before, and how often has the ship received maintenance?

There's something called the planned maintenance system. In the same way that a car manufacturer guides you on what you need to do to the car after 50,000 miles, every piece of equipment on the ship has a guideline on how it should be maintained. So I'd want to check whether routine maintenance and long-term preventive-maintenance guidelines were followed.

How a shipping company would manage a collision

In the event of an incident, the shipping company would establish an emergency control room at the company headquarters in their own country, which would be manned 24/7. They would have everything about the ship in that room, such as drawings of the vessel. The shipping company's staff would communicate with the ship and the agent on the ground, who is nominated to speak on their behalf.

They will also take a look at the black box on the bridge , which contains the voice recordings of everything that was said on the bridge between crew members and what they said when speaking to the authorities or the engine room.

Being an outside observer of an event like this makes it easy to comment, but I do think about the captain of that ship and the pressure they must be going through.

We cannot change what happened, but thousands of vessels trading worldwide can learn from this and understand what happened to ensure that such accidents do not happen again.

Watch: The container ship that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge has crashed before

Main content

7 Best Cruises to Alaska, According to Travel Experts

Book a once-in-a-lifetime trip to see glaciers, national parks and wildlife!

glacier bay national park and preserve, alaska

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While some travelers dream of lounging on a beach in the Caribbean, others might be itching to put on hiking shoes and explore the great outdoors. If glaciers, wildlife and picturesque coastline have long been on your bucket list, consider booking a cruise to Alaska. The northernmost American state offers an activity for everyone's interest and level of adventure. You can take a thrilling helicopter flight to explore a glacier on foot or observe miles of Alaska’s lush scenery and spy whales from a comfortable seat on a boat.

Princess Cruises

A top choice for multi-generational families and larger groups seeking on-board experiences for a wide age range, Princess will sail seven ships to Alaska in 2024 — more than any other line. Princess also offers the most departure cities , potentially saving you money on airfare. Alaska sailings range from 4 to 22 days, though a week is the sweet spot. The line is also only one of seven permitted to enter the magnificent Glacier Bay National Park (shown); check out the tips at the end of the story for details.

Good Housekeeping Contributing Travel Editor Karen Cicero and her daughter recently sailed on Majestic Princess, a Family Travel Awards Winner , and raved about the ship's amenities, especially the Hollywood Pool Club. She described it as “an indoor space with a heated pool, plush loungers, and cabana-like spots that are free for all guests to use.” Cicero was also impressed with the entertainment and activities suitable for all ages, the excellent dining options and a supervised kids’ club for ages 3 to 12. "We saw grandparents and grandkids on the dance floor, at the shows, on the excursions — bonding moments were everywhere," Cicero said.

In 2024, Majestic Princess and Discovery Princess, the line's newest Alaska ship, will both sail roundtrip from Seattle. "You can't beat Princess if you're looking for an experience that will please all ages," said Cicero.

Departure Cities: Los Angeles; San Francisco; Seattle; Vancouver; Whittier, Alaska Cruise Ships: Crown Princess (2024 only); Grand Princess, Caribbean Princess (2025 only), Royal Princess, Sapphire Princess, Discovery Princess, Majestic Princess (2024 only), Crown Princess, Coral Princess (2025 only)

Norwegian Cruise Line

Passengers are loyal to Norwegian for its beautiful ships, top-notch service and innovative amenities. The cruise line pioneered the concept of “freestyle cruising," which includes a flexible dining time. Flexible cruising continues to be a major selling point , according to our testers who recently sailed roundtrip from Seattle to Alaska on the Norwegian Encore (pictured). "We enjoyed not having to rush back to the ship after an excursion because we had a dinner reservation," said our tester who sailed with her spouse.

They also frequented the Encore’s Observation Lounge, where they were able to cozy up and spend hours searching for marine life from floor-to-ceiling windows. Activities and entertainment, like go-karting, slides and laser tag, are abundant. For a premium experience, consider booking a stateroom in The Haven. The Encore's most luxurious accommodations feature spacious rooms — the bathrooms are nearly double the size of those in standard staterooms — a private sundeck and a concierge.

The variety of sailings to Alaska is also another reason to choose Norwegian. "If Hawaii is also on your bucket list, Norwegian is one of the only cruise lines to offer a 16-day cruise departing from Honolulu that sails through both Hawaii and Alaska so you explore two dreamy destinations on one vacation," said Cicero. She added that Norwegian sails to Alaska until late October — about a month longer than most cruise lines.

Departure Cities: Honolulu; Seattle; Seward, Alaska; Vancouver; Whittier, Alaska (2025) Cruise Ships: Norwegian Encore, Norwegian Bliss, Norwegian Jewel (only in 2024), Norwegian Spirit (only in May 2024), Norwegian Sun, Norwegian Jade (only in 2025), Norwegian Joy (only in 2025)

EXPLORE NOW

Disney Cruise Line

disney cruise ship docked in ketchikan, alaska

Disney lovers will have the time of their lives sailing roundtrip from Vancouver to Alaska aboard the Disney Wonder. "It was the best experience ever," said a mom of two young adults who sailed on the ship in May 2023. "We felt like it was a great combination of Disney and Alaska."

On-board experiences brilliantly align with the destination. For instance, Disney characters are dressed in special outfits for Alaska and are on deck during the days at sea. "We were able to get incredible photos with the glaciers behind the characters," said the mom, who also noted that you can order Mickey Mouse ice cream bars from room service. Cicero added, "Disney has the best kids' and teen clubs of any cruise line. They're enormous, filled with epic activities like superhero training and are a great place for kids and teens to make friends."

If you want an equal dose of Disney and Alaska, this is the cruise for your crew. Sailings range from five to nine nights. All routes head to Stikine Icecap so guests can observe stunning glaciers, cliffs, waterfalls and wildlife.

Departure City: Vancouver Cruise Ship: Disney Wonder

Royal Caribbean International

Royal Caribbean doesn’t only sail to the Caribbean. This global cruise line whisks passengers to Alaska from popular ports such as Seattle and Vancouver. You can choose a classic seven-night itinerary or a 13-night land-and-sea getaway.

Cruise enthusiasts at the Good Housekeeping Institute are fans of Royal Caribbean for its state-of-the-art ships, exceptional service and high-quality entertainment. "Royal Caribbean had the first rock-climbing wall and ice-skating rink on a cruise ship," said Cicero. "Since then, they've brought so many other epic activities to sea." For instance, Royal Caribbean’s Quantum Class, which includes Quantum of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas, offers skydiving, a surf simulator and a robot bar. "This line is an especially good fit for families with tweens, teens and young adults ," said Cicero, who sailed on Royal Caribbean with her teen daughter.

Departure Cities: Seattle; Seward, Alaska; Vancouver Cruise Ships: Quantum of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas, Radiance of the Seas, Brilliance of the Seas (only in 2024), Ovation of the Seas (only in 2024), Serenade of the Seas (only in 2025)

National Geographic Lindblad Expeditions

lindblad expeditions ship national geographic sea lion

For an incredible small-ship experience, look no further than the Lindblad Expeditions–National Geographic team-up. The largest of its ships that sail to Alaska can accommodate no more than 138 passengers — just a sliver of the 4,900 or so that Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas can hold. " Being on a smaller vessel means that you’ll be able to sail right up to less frequented glaciers, waterfalls and fjords, " said Cicero.

Of course, an intimate experience comes at a higher price tag — its eight-day Alaskan adventure starts at about $6,200 per person, though you won't need to pay extra for excursions. "Voyages tend to be themed and stress the educational component," said Cicero. For instance, one focuses on coastal wildlife while another explores native cultures. A Good Housekeeping staff member who sailed the line to the Galápagos Islands (a providence of Ecuador) raved, "The ship was beautiful! I was super impressed with the staff and the service felt above and beyond.”

Departure Cities: Juneau, Alaska; Ketchikan, Alaska; Seattle; Sitka, Alaska Cruise Ships: National Geographic Quest, National Geographic Venture, National Geographic Sea Bird, National Geographic Sea Lion, National Geographic Resolution

Holland America Line

Holland America has a well-earned reputation for bringing guests to new destinations for more than 150 years. Its ships tend to be mid-sized — larger than Lindblad's offerings but smaller than the Quantum ships from Royal Caribbean. While Holland attracts an older demographic, its Alaskan cruises are often filled with multi-generational families.

One of the cruise line’s most popular itineraries is the Seven-Day Inside Passage, which takes you through Glacier Bay National Park, the Inside Passage, Tracy Arm Inlet and several must-visit port towns. But for adventure seekers curious to see as much of Alaska as possible, you’ll find tons of extended itineraries including a robust 28-day voyage that crosses the Arctic Circle.

Holland America is the only cruise line permitted to serve glacier ice, using it for cocktails like the Blue Iceberg and Juneau Gin & Tonic. The line also launched a new Alaskan-themed brunch menu offered once per cruise.

Departure Cities: Anchorage, Alaska (for land-sea tours only); Fairbanks, Alaska; Seattle; Vancouver, Whittier, Alaska Cruise Ships: Eurodam, Koningsdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Noordam, Zuiderdam, Zaandam

Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity is popular with adults and couples looking for a premium onboard experience, including delicious cuisine, luxurious staterooms and a high-end spa . We can’t imagine a better way to rest and relax after spending a day exploring the Alaskan wilderness. Our travel experts suggest choosing one of Celebrity's many Alaska itineraries that sail through the Inside Passage and up to Dawes Glacier or Hubbard Glacier, two of the state’s gems.

Of the three Celebrity ships that sail to Alaska, we recommend the Celebrity Edge for those new to cruising or seeking a more contemporary experience. Launched in 2018, the ship features standout innovations like Eden, a multi-level bar with panoramic views, and the Magic Carpet, a multi-purpose floating space suspended directly above the sea.

Departure Cities: Seattle; Seward, Alaska; Vancouver Cruise Ships: Celebrity Solstice, Celebrity Summit, Celebrity Edge

Tips for booking your cruise to Alaska

✔️ Check your itinerary. The itinerary you choose is key on an Alaskan cruise. If you have your heart set on visiting Glacier Bay National Park, make sure that your cruise line has it listed on the schedule. "Only seven lines were awarded the Glacier Bay contract by the National Park Service ," Cicero said. If you're not sure whether the cruise you have in mind will go through Glacier Bay, double-check with the cruise line or your travel agent.

✔️ Book shore excursions well in advance. Alaskan cruises generally sail from April to October. Because of the shorter season, your ship will likely be close to capacity and several ships may overlap in ports. Excursions will book up quickly. To secure your spot, book excursions well in advance or as soon as they're available.

✔️ Focus on family. Alaskan cruises are best for kids who are at least 5 years old. "Keep in mind that cruise lines don't allow kids who aren't potty-trained to be in pools, even if they're wearing a swim diaper," Cicero said. It's also worth noting that most cruise lines don't permit babies under 6 months or pregnant passengers who are 24 or more weeks along. Cicero advises families with school-age children to look for on-ship amenities, such as an indoor heated pool, a supervised kids' club and a variety of family-friendly nighttime entertainment. "Before you sail, you should also find out which non-alcoholic beverages are complimentary," Cicero said. "Many cruise lines charge extra for soft drinks, but milk and juice are usually included." Free room service is another big perk for families, she notes, so see if that's offered on the line you're considering.

✔️ Check your passport. Even if your cruise starts and stops in a U.S. port like Seattle, there's a high chance your ship will dock in Canada at some point throughout your trip. Also, " some of the excursions in Alaskan ports venture into Canada and will require a passport," explained Cicero. For instance, you may take the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway from Skagway into Yukon, a Canadian territory. Your passport will need to be valid for at least 6 months following the cruise.

✔️ Pack layers. This is especially crucial if you're traveling in Alaska's shoulder season — May and September. While May tends to be drier, temperatures remain relatively chilly. Likewise, September marks the end of the summer season and welcomes cooler temperatures and more rainfall. Because you'll be spending a lot of time outdoors, it's important to prepare for all weather scenarios, including windy conditions common to sailing cruise ships.

✔️ Book next summer's cruise soon. To get the best staterooms and excursions, start looking for a 2025 cruise in 2024, Cicero said, noting that many ships start to fill up at least 6 months in advance. And don't forget about major sale days. "Last year, cruise lines had fantastic Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals," she said.

Why trust Good Housekeeping?

Good Housekeeping Institute Writer and Product Analyst Olivia Lipski covers everything from tech to travel, fitness, outdoor, home and more. Not only does she have years of product review experience under her belt, but she’s also a travel enthusiast who has been on more than 20 cruises (and counting)!

The former travel editor at Parents magazine, Karen Cicero specializes in travel, children's book, lifestyle and food coverage. She manages the experience portion of the Good Housekeeping Family Travel Awards. She has sailed on four cruise lines with her family and toured several others. She recently was a featured speaker at several travel industry conferences, including PRSA, Mid-Atlantic Tourism Alliance and the Family Travel Association.

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What It's Really Like to Sail the Icon of the Seas

Liverpool cruise industry expected to double after £25 million investment

Port of Liverpool
Wednesday 3 April 2024 at 4:37pm

One of the largest cruise operators in the world has promised to invest an estimated £25 million into Liverpool 's port, with the money expected to double the city's cruise industry.

Global Ports Holding Plc (GPH) has signed a 50-year agreement with The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company Ltd, which allows it to operate at Liverpool Cruise Port.

In order to obtain licences and permits, GPH has promised major investments into the port's infrastructure, with an exact figure expected once construction begins.

Plans include building a new terminal building, with waterfront shops and restaurants, and a new floating pontoon which would allow two 300 metre cruise ships to berth at the same time, and mean up to 7,000 passengers a day.

The deal comes just days after Liverpool City Council agreed to give up its lease on the port, after it was projected to make a loss of £1 million in 2024.

Andrew Lewis, Chief Executive of Liverpool City Council, said: “Responsibility for Liverpool’s cruise operations now passes to a world-leading operator, with ambitious plans to grow Liverpool’s position as an excellent cruise and tourism destination."

David Huck, Chief Operating Officer at Peel Ports Group said: "Liverpool City Council’s stewardship of the port over the last two decades has truly transformed the City into a thriving cruise tourism destination. We see this new chapter as an opportunity for us to build upon that legacy.

"We look forward to making that vision a reality alongside GPH through a strategic partnership and our combined maritime and cruise expertise."

In 2023, Liverpool welcomed 102 cruise ships and over 186,000 passengers.

This is expected to increase to over 200,000 passengers in 2024 and exceed 300,000 per annum once the new infrastructure works are completed.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To know...

IMAGES

$6 Billion Floating City “Freedom” to Dwarf World’s Largest Ships Ever
Floating Cities: A look at the 10 most fascinating cruise ships
pierpaolo lazzarini’s giant pangeos terayacht is a floating city
Nick's Hale Koa
floating city cruise ship
Royal Caribbean One-Ups Itself With New World's Biggest Cruise Ship

COMMENTS

The World: a floating city of millionaires
Other cruise ship operators are now eying a slice of the luxury floating city market. Launching in 2021, The Utopia is a five-star residential cruise liner set to rival The World. The Utopia ship
How the Floating Cities Will Work
The Construction of Floating Cities. Freedom Ship will dwarf any ocean-going vessel operating today -- it will be nearly four times longer than any current cruise ship. For example, the largest cruise ship as of 2023 (the "Icon of the Seas") is approximately 1,198 feet in length. The Freedom Ship, meanwhile, would measure an astounding 4,320 ...
Freedom Ship
Freedom Ship is a floating city project initially proposed in the late 1990s. [1] The namesake of the project reflects the designer's vision of a mobile ocean colony, such that it is free from the property, municipal, or federal laws of any nation states. The project would not be a conventional ship, but rather a series of linked barges .
This $8 Billion Turtle-Shaped Yacht Is Not a Joke
November 18, 2022. Pangeos, a turtle-shaped yacht, cruising through the ocean. Photo: All photos courtesy of Lazzarini. Among many things that weren't on our Bingo cards for 2022, a giant turtle ...
Gigantic floating city design could become the world's largest boat
Lazzarini Design Studio. Little wonder it's so expensive when this, if funded, will become the largest floating structure ever built. Looking rather like a Bond villain's lair, it'll sprawl ...
The Freedom Ship Floating City Concept
Freedom Ship, or floating city, is a highly innovative maritime housing project conceptualised by an American engineering pioneer, Norman Nixon. ... This cruise ship concept aims to provide permanent residential, recreational and commercial avenues aboard a ship to help patrons be free of the innumerable taxation burdens. It will have a ...
Floating City: Inside the World's Largest Cruise Ship
The world's largest cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas promises adventure at every turn, and it's tough to refute that assertion, especially when the ship comes fitted with a slide that takes ...
Are Floating Cities a Real Possibility?
This hurricane-resistant, zero-waste city would be comprised of 4.5-acre hexagonal floating islands that each house 300 people. Six of these islands would form a ring-shaped village articulated ...
Freedom Ship: the floating city that never set sail
The idea of creating a floating city beyond the reach of the laws of existing states is quite an old concept and has given rise to numerous projects, most of which were never completed or did not even get off the ground. The Freedom Ship is one of them, presented as an alternative to land-based cities.
Could Floating Cities Be a Haven as Coastlines Submerge?
Another long-awaited project, conceived in 2011 by a California firm called Blueseed, would establish a floating city on a cruise ship parked in international waters about 12 miles offshore from ...
World's first floating city: Freedom Ship to sail around the world
Originally published on November 29, 2013 A Florida-based company has proposed building a floating city with its own airport, casino and shopping center on a...
The incredible plan to build an $8 billion turtle-shaped floating city
Lazzarini has dedicated some thought to its cost too. The budget would be around US$8 billion and there's a crowdfunding campaign launching soon, should you want to chip in, offering rewards like ...
Floating Cities: A look at the 10 most fascinating cruise ships
Designer: Pierpaolo Lazzarini. Length: 550 metres. Italian designer Pierpaolo Lazzarini has created an extraordinary floating city that surpasses the conventional notion of a cruise ship. Stretching an astonishing 550 meters in length and 610 meters in width, this turtle-shaped marvel is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
City At Sea: Plans For The World's Largest Ship
More recently, Kvaerner, the Norwegian ship and oil platform builder, proposed that the U.S. Department of Defense build a 5249-ft. floating airfield capable of supporting 10,000 troops.
Freedom Cruise Line International
You are beginning to understand the Freedom Ship concept of a massive ocean-going vessel. With a design length of 4,500 feet, a width of 750 feet, and a height of 350 feet, Freedom Ship would be more than 4 times longer than the Queen Mary. The design concepts include a mobile modern city featuring luxurious living, an extensive duty-free ...
Floating Cities: 10 most fascinating existing and envisioned cruise ships
Calling this floating city a cruise ship is an understatement: Italian designer Pierpaolo Lazzarini designed a 550 meters long and 610 meters wide turtle-shaped floating city. "[It is a] gigantic hull composed of nine different bows and subdivided into several blocks. This starts from the entrance of the port area to the main square, which ...
Pangeos: Saudi Arabia's $8bn Turtle-Shaped Floating City
The massive sea vessel will function as a floating city. There will be enough space for hotels, shopping centers, parks, and other public spaces. ... Unlike a traditional cruise ship or yacht, the Pangeos itself would be the star destination. Powered by nine 16,800 horsepower HTS engines, the Pangeos is expected to have a top speed of just five ...
Cruise ship The World is a floating city of millionaires
The World is a small floating town. MS The World is a 196m cruise ship with a tonnage of 43,188 GT. It has a maximum beam of 30m and a draft of 7m. The crew and residents quarters are located on 12 decks. The maximum speed is 18.5 knots.
The giant floating city that costs £8 billion and could carry ...
For those wanting to have a taste of the full-time cruise life, a luxurious pad with a sea view could set travellers back £9 million, while more affordable options start at just £150,000. Although on the surface, the Freedom Ship appears to cater to every traveller's need - it has yet to have gotten off the ground.
Maldives Floating City
Modern cities have hundreds of entrance points, a cruise ship has only a few. A floating city with canals provides multiple access points. 04. Power supply. Power and utilities are the backbone of a floating city. The reduction of energy consumption and production of green/blue energy in a smart grid where each unit shares and uses the surplus ...
Venice Cruise: Dock in the Heart of the Floating City with Uniworld
Officials in Venice recently banned cruise ships weighing more than 25,000 tons from calling on the Marittima cruise terminal - but a few small luxury ships, including Uniworld Boutique River Cruises ' 126-passenger La Venezia, can still dock directly in the heart of Italy 's Floating City. Recently voted Virtuoso's Best River Cruise Line, Uniworld's small ship easily navigates the ...
Pangeos: Saudi Arabia's new turtle-shaped floating city
Pangeos will effectively be a yacht-city with it measuring 610 meters at its widest point. That is one supersized turtle. Villas with a pool at Saudi Arabia Pangeos. The turtle-shaped yacht will have villas, shopping and even a beach club. The one-of-a-kind floating city will have 19 villas and 64 apartments located on each turtle foot.
City At Sea
You are beginning to understand the Floating City concept of a massive ocean-going vessel. With a design length of 1393 Meter , a beam of 230 Meter, and a height of 110 Meter, Floating City would be more than 4 times longer than the Queen Mary. The design concepts include a mobile modern city featuring luxurious living, an extensive duty-free ...
What happens when someone dies on a cruise ship?
When nature takes its course in a floating city, a series of interesting procedures are quickly initiated. By Connor Sturges. ... Depending on the cruise ship's itinerary, bodies are stored ready to be disembarked at the next port or released to the relevant services on home turf if the ship's course is coming to an end - an easier result ...
11 Around-The-World Cruises For An Epic Getaway
Cruises are like floating resorts, which ease their way over the waves. It's the definition of "slow travel." Amazingly, in the modern world of jet-setting travel, round-the-world cruises do exist.
A Ship Captain Breaks Down Why Port Entry and Exits Are so Difficult
Mar 28, 2024, 1:13 PM PDT. The remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after it was struck by a container ship on Tuesday. Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images. Sachin Saxena is a former ...
7 Best Cruises to Alaska, According to Travel Experts
Princess Cruises. Princess Cruises. A top choice for multi-generational families and larger groups seeking on-board experiences for a wide age range, Princess will sail seven ships to Alaska in ...
Liverpool cruise industry expected to double after £25 million ...
Plans include building a new terminal building, with waterfront shops and restaurants, and a new floating pontoon which would allow two 300 metre cruise ships to berth at the same time, and mean ...